Echiko, a Fanfiction
by Ubitu
Summary: About a boy who becomes crippled due to a tragic incident. Does he have the courage to face his past and grow into a powerful shinobi before it's too late? Original character insert. Set in the timeline before Naruto when Kakashi, Obito, and Rin were still a young team. Will partially follow canon but deviate later in the story.
1. Chapter 1

Authors note: This is an original character fanfiction in the Naruto universe. I wrote this fanfiction a very long time ago (like, over 6 years ago. I was a wee child). It wasn't finished, but now after reading it again myself I want to try and at least continue it. If you have any problems with the way it is written or the information that's in it, whether accurate or not, I do not care. I don't have the time nor energy to bother with it. I just want to finish it, for myself, and for my close friends who remember when I first came up with the idea.

Discaimer: I do not own Naruto

...

He couldn't place his finger on it. That is, until they cornered him.  
They were so much bigger than himself, the two of them. They had broad noses and little round eyes that made it look like they were squinting at you, and they probably were.

"Well, squirt, you have somethin' to say?" came the assertive voice of the boy in front of him. The tips of Echiko's fingers grazed the unrelenting surface of a stone wall behind him, and a chill swept up his spine. A smile played on the bigger boy's fat lips. He glanced from one opponent to the other who both towered over him, a head taller and broader than himself, with the yellow skin and oval faces of the commoners here that were so different than his own.  
They had cut off either way out of the narrow alley, so his chances of slipping away were slim.  
"So this kid's the so-called 'freak'?" the taller bully leaned in. "Doesn't look like much. Hey-" he poked Echiko's arm, "you're a shinobi's child, right?" He pulled off the hat Echiko had covering his head and exclaimed, "Dude! He's got blue hair!"  
"Stop it, Kunio," the second boy pushed aside his friend. "I don't care whether he's a freaking ninja or not. He's a thief and deserves to be punished. Isn't that right, refugee boy?" He spat, as if the refugees were nothing but dirt.  
"I'm sorry..." Echiko was tense, heart beating rapidly in his chest as beads of sweat formed on his pale skin. They weren't supposed to know. _Who... who told them?_  
"Pfft, sure you are. Now had it over." He replied. "Unless, of course, you want me to take what you stole by force."  
Defiance flickered over Echiko's face and for an instant their eyes locked. But that's when the boy called Kunio moved in.  
Echiko felt himself pushed into the damp earth, face down, his arms pinned uncomfortably against his back with the boy on top of him. "Hey-ho, time's up!" He smiled. "Won't you let me have fun with him, Shoji?"  
"You take too long. This cripple isn't worth it, anyway. He couldn't run away even if we let him." Shoji sneered.  
The small sack of hard biscuits Echiko had been defending this whole time was easily ripped from his hand and inspected, only to be tossed aside into the snow like a worthless toy. "What? That's all you got? Geez, this was a waste." The weight lifted from his back and pain erupted from his gut as Shoji kicked him backwards.  
"Aren't you supposed to be some shinobi's kid? Worthless." _Kick_. "Hm, how can you make up for the time we wasted with you, eh?" The toe of his boot cracked against Echiko's jaw, and his expression brightened. "Oh, I know!"  
Kunio looked on with amusement. "Huh?"  
Before Echiko could manage to sit up, blood dripping from his mouth and nose, his left leg was yanked out from beneath him along with a "...wonder if this thing comes off". It was a crudely sanded wooden peg and metal foot-piece, tightly held together with a metal brace strapped around the smaller boy's cut-off limb.  
Echiko's eyes suddenly widened. "N-no, please! S-stop!" But his pleading only caused Shoji to laugh. "It's not healthy to be so _attached_... here, let me help you out!"  
With a burst of strength Shoji propelled himself 180 degrees, ripping the thin leather straps from the leg he held with his other hand until the whole brace came flying off.  
Echiko gasped, catching himself hard on his elbows and palms. Immediately raising his head, he cried, "Give that b-back!"  
"Oh? Why should I do that?" The boy asked incredulously. "This is a piece of junk, just like you. Hey, if you want it back so bad, then come and take it!"  
White hot tears were beginning to raid his vision as Echiko stumbled to his knees, soaked and numb with bruises. "You... don't un-understand..." The bandage wrapped around his leg had become partly unraveled and stained with dirty snow, revealing deep scars running up and down the limb until it abruptly cut off to nothing under the knee. Blood still speckled the bandages as if the wound had closed up recently.  
"Dude, that's nasty," Kunio, who had been watching, declared. Shoji rolled his eyes.  
"So you've lost a leg. Big Deal." He hefted his arm back and flung the brace over the wall and out of sight with an apathetic sigh. "C'mon, man, let's get out of here."  
"But I still wanna see why he's called a freak!" Kunio pouted as he squat before their prey. "Show me what you got, eh?"  
"J-just leave me alone!" came the whimpered answer.  
He frowned, about to say something more, when his friend grabbed him by the shirt. "Dude, somebody's coming! Let's go!"  
"Oh, uh..." The other boy blinked. "What about-"  
"Just leave the wimp, he'll manage!" For some reason anger rose in the tone he was trying to keep disinterested, but he quickly marched out of the alleyway leaving his friend no choice but to follow. Kunio cast one last look at the small boy lying in the snow before he was pulled around the corner.  
And the snow continued to fall.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ Echiko rubbed his teary eyes angrily. _Why does this have to happen?_ White blurred his vision, clinging to his eyelashes and the ends of his unusual dark blue hair. His limbs felt heavy and cold, as if buried under layers of snow. _Why am I so weak?_  
His gaze finally wandered to the couple of hard pieces of bread scattered beside him. And all for a few biscuits... He crawled to gather them back into the sack.

"At your throat once more, are they?" This new voice was scratchy and familiar, causing Echiko to raise his head.  
An old man stood in the middle of the alleyway, yellowed strands of gray hair sticking up from his mostly bald head, dressed in a worn and frayed winter cloak. His wrinkled eyes glittered as he held in his hand Echiko's wooden leg that had been thrown over the wall.  
"...It's nothing," Echiko mumbled, dusting off his biscuit.  
"Heh! Is that so?" Masahiro eyed the bruises covering the boy's pale skin. "You didn't fight back?"  
"No..."  
The old man nodded, bones creaking as he moved next him. "Good, that's good. I'm sorry about this, Echiko-kun."  
Echiko took the brace from his knobby hands and winced as he strapped the binds over the bandaged leg, tightening them as much as he could.  
But the old man shook his head. "You must understand these villagers aren't used to your kind around here, child. The name of shinobi are known far and wide, both good and bad, and it is the poor folk who know that all too well. But your father was a good man... yes, a good man." He paused when Echiko slipped onto his feet and handed him the sack.  
"It's bread," the boy said simply. He finally looked into the old man's eyes, but all he saw was pity. It was always the same.  
"I'm not afraid," Echiko said softly.  
"Hm, is that so."  
Echiko scrunched his face."I'm going for a walk."  
"Now Echiko-kun..." But the boy turned away, and he watched his limping form fade into the growing dusk as a chill wind swept through the alleyway. He shook his graying head once more.

Leaves rustled restlessly in the breeze, a thin mist shrouding the rice fields as night closed in around the village. Echiko padded quietly through the trees, their branches drooping with fresh snow, aiming for a little knoll far from the prying eyes of the villagers. There he sat, huddled in his coat, watching his breath dissipate in the crisp air. He looked at his palms, remembering what one of the boys had said before they ran off. _"So he's the so-called 'freak'?... You're a shinobi's kid, right?"_  
_So what if I'm from a shinobi clan!? Why does that make me any worse than the rest of you?_ He punched his fist into the wet dirt. _I hate this!_ This is exactly what happened in that other village. They cast him and all the other refugees out because they didn't want "trouble" dealing with "the likes of ninja."  
The refugees were just commoners, peasant folk who managed to survive the devastation of Murakami village, looking for a place to rebuild their lives again! They all either hate or pity him, now. He could see it in their faces, their cold eyes and tight lips, as if he was a burden and a nuisance to have tagging along.  
Even old man Masahiro... A hardness reflected in Echiko's dark gray eyes. He didn't really know why the old man helped him, except for his father's sake, but it didn't feel like it was genuine sympathy. He couldn't recall ever seeing him in their old village, Murakami, but then again, Echiko was hardly ten years old. His memory only stretched so far.  
He gazed at his hands again. It was dark enough now that he could only see their vague outlines traced against the background of white snow. Drawing upon some of his energy, he set his hands in memorized positions and warmed himself with a breath of hot air. This is why he was called a freak. He sighed.  
The village lanterns twinkled in the twilight beyond the covering of trees, and far past that he knew was a mountain range, from which they had painstakingly journeyed from. The place where he was born.  
The place where his family died.  
Echiko rose, dusting the snow from his garments, and walked back down the hill, the darkness not heeding him at all. He wound his way through the farmer's huts and down a small, dry ravine, finding himself in the midst of a colony of tents made from canvas and animal skins. Many fires were distributed throughout the camp where the refugees were gathered, eating hot soup cooked in large cauldrons hung over the fires.  
Like a shadow Echiko avoided the flickering light, though warm, knowing he would not be welcome there. Unconsciously he touched his bruised jaw, still feeling pain from the kicks he received earlier there and to the gut. The hot soup didn't even look good tonight.  
At the farthest end of the ravine was a single tent, rather separated from the others and snuggled between the rock, hardly noticeable when not looking for it. His metal brace clicked repetitively as he stepped with his left foot toward it, but the noise was lost in the night air and he retreated into the shelter. Blankets, piled thick, rested on two thin mats made of straw, on top of which sat a tray with one of his biscuits and a bowl of luke-warm stew. Masahiro-san...  
He changed into a worn yukata and laid out his wet coat and clothes to dry, glancing at the food again. It was strange the old man wasn't already in his futon sleeping, but perhaps he was among the others by the fire. The night was particularly cold.  
Gently he set aside the tray and huddled underneath his blanket, staring blankly at the roof of the tent. Would he ever get out of this place? His heart thumped slowly in his chest as he bat painful memories away. He wouldn't think of them. It's been two months since it all happened, and all he's done is survive. A numbness clung to his bones, a paralyzing feeling, as if he was floating in a sea of darkness. He was always conscious of the limb he lost, bringing him back to that day, that moment, over and over again.  
His mother would cry if she saw him now. His beautiful mother... he pictured her in her traditional kimono, long blue hair bundled up in a thick bun, striking eyes and delicate smile gently chiding him and his twin sister for getting into something they weren't supposed to. His twin's curiosity always got the better of her. She was so different from him... so brave, so strong.  
She should've survived...  
And Father... Father was...

_ "…Father," I gasped. "I can't… train… anymore."_  
_ His cold gray eyes bore down on me with disappointment. "Hm. That is enough for today, then. Go get washed up." His tone was even colder._  
_ I guiltily watched his rigid back retreat into the forest, and the pain in my chest refused to subside. The river was a stone's throw away. I rolled over, panting heavily, and buried my sweaty face in the cool water._  
_ Why can't I do it? Why am I so weak?_  
_ My hands trembled, but I managed to lift myself onto my knees and stared blurrily at the mid-afternoon sun. Time never felt so slow as when I was training. I heard new footsteps tromping in my direction, and soon my little sister came into view. Her sing-song voice rang out clearly._  
_ "Nii-san!" Her chubby arms held a package to her chest as she skipped gaily to my side. "You look awful, twin. I wish Father wouldn't train you so hard, yeah?"_  
_ "He's only doing… what's necessary," I responded wearily. If I don't get stronger I'll never be able to master our clan's ancient summoning, I added to myself. Of course I didn't tell her that, not wanting her to worry over it._  
_ "I just don't understand," she continued in her lively tone, spreading her skirt and laying out the snacks she brought him. "Everybody knows you're not built for it – no offense, brother – so why can't I train instead, yeah?"_  
_ "You know what Father says…"_  
_ She pouted. "Father says 'in our clan girl's have special duties as well as the men'. I don't consider cooking and cleaning 'special duties'."_  
_ "…Be careful you don't say that in front of him."_  
_ "Well too late, I already have, yeah!"_  
_ I blinked. My twin never ceased to amaze me._  
_ "But it was weird… he didn't say anything," she said, her gaze following the river. "I thought he'd rebuke me, but he just made this face and walked off." Her attempt at his expression failed miserably, but I got the gist of it. It was an expression I saw often in his eyes… disappointment, regret. Probably because he wished our roles were switched._  
_ A cloud of gloom fell over me and caught her off guard. "Hey! Don't get sullen on me! I came all this way to bring you snacks, so be grateful!"_  
_ I looked at her hair braided off to the side, its black shine unusual in our blue-haired family, and her childish grey eyes stared at me with concern._  
_ "I… am grateful, of course…" I muttered. "Thank you."_  
_ "Humph. You better be." She chewed on a piece of dried deer meat. "Oh, by the way, you know what Mother said about the trail up the Mountain? She said not long ago it was the very same road that our family used to settle in this valley. Did you know that?"_  
_ "Yes."_  
_ "Of course it's mostly eroded now, but wouldn't it be fun to go explore it? I bet we'd find all kinds of treasures along the way!"_  
_ "…Maybe some other time, imouto…" I stood, shaking the achiness off. "I have to continue training."_  
_ "But Echi- you, you can't! You should rest!"_  
_ "Please…"_  
_ Her voice faded, but I didn't turn around to look at her face. I began practicing my stances without another word, hoping she'd just leave me alone._  
_ Scuffle. My ear hardly caught her soft response._  
_ "…Yeah, of course… be careful, Echi."_

There was a commotion going on in the village above the ravine where the refugees camped. Echiko slowed his pace, shifting the large bundle of damp firewood in his arms, as he noticed many of the village folk whispering to each other, looking off in the direction of the only inn and tavern in town. Coming closer, he tuned his ears to try and catch the conversation of a group of warmly dressed farmers standing at the edge of a snow covered field.  
"...and he just strolled in like nobody's business and started askin' questions!"  
"Typical," one replied.  
"What does he want?" another asked the first man.  
"He was a' wondering about the refugees, like he's got some interest with 'em."  
"Knew they were trouble when they came here..."  
"Now I'm sure it's not as bad as we think," said one, trying to alleviate the fowl mood of his companions. "Perhaps the ninja is looking for surviving relatives – we can't assume he's here to do us any harm."  
"Humph. That's what you said about the last one! And he made off with our rice and goats."  
They moved away and out of earshot, leaving a confused Echiko with his thoughts. Did that man say... a ninja? A shinobi is here in the village? The wood weighed heavily on his limbs, forcing him to set them down on the dirt path.  
_Who was he? What was he here for?_ His mind raced for an answer. The village elder was probably speaking to him now, but it seemed from the way the farmers glared at the inn the traveler must be staying there. Echiko frowned at himself. _Why am I even interested?_ Just because he may be a _shinobi_ doesn't mean anything. _It's not like he's going to have answers for you..._  
Echiko stacked the wood back in his arms again, glancing at the mid-morning sun barely visible through the haze. Well, it wouldn't hurt to investigate a little...  
After adding his wood to the pile set to dry in the ravine, he skipped up the steep slope, almost slipping with his replacement foot in the mud. The inn wasn't very big, set right in between the huts as if it always belonged there. Its lanterns were lit because of the haze, so to Echiko it appeared almost to glow as he neared, and he cringed slightly. What if the tavern-woman remembered him? He _did_ make off with some of her biscuits the other day, though he was sure he hadn't been spotted until those two boys pinned him in the alley.  
The back door seemed like the least obvious route to take, and surprisingly the small wooden entrance was unlocked. One step inside, he raised his hand to block out the bright lantern directly above his head when suddenly he was grasped firmly by the wrist and pulled blindly forward. "Now I've caught you, you little...!" came the low growl of a stockily built woman dressed with a long apron over her plain dress. Echiko realized his mistake a little too late.  
"I-I didn't do anything!" he whimpered, but her threateningly narrow eyes already changed to puzzlement as she looked him up and down.  
"Oh, well now! Who do we have here? You aren't the boy I was aiming to catch," she said, a hand on her wide hip, holding his wrist in the air like a wind toy. "Are you here to steal my bread too?"  
"N-no! No, I-I..." Echiko panicked. "I wanted... I wanted to know a-about the shinobi st-staying here?"  
Why she burst out laughing, Echiko had no clue. "Oh, dear boy," she breathed. "Never in my life would I let one of those vagabonds stay in my inn! No indeed. I told that ninja man to take his business elsewhere. Even threatened to feed him to the pigs, I did! Haha!" She finally let go of Echiko's hand, bending down to his level so he'd look in her eyes.  
"Listen, child, for your own sake don't involve yourself with the likes of them, you understand? It's just not worth it. There's always another agenda with them, shady folk." She proceeded to pat him on the head. "Now run along! I have a tavern to manage!"  
Echiko, however, still needed to know one thing. "B-but, why was he here? What was he looking for?"  
The woman blinked at him. "My, so many questions! I can't say for sure, but he seemed to have been traveling for some time in search of someone, a family of shinobi-folk. I told him we don't harbor people like that in our village, but he kept pestering my customers about it. Ah well! He's gone now, don't worry your little head about it."  
_He's gone now?_ Rushed back out the door, Echiko absentmindedly wandered throughout the village, wondering what family that shinobi could possibly be searching for. The only ninja clan joined with the village of Murakami in the mountains was his own, from what he understood. Could it be possible this man really was searching for him then?  
Maybe he doesn't know Father is dead. This shinobi could be an old friend of his father's, or an archenemy wanting to learn of his fate. He shivered. Maybe he didn't want to find this ninja. But either way he was looking for Echiko's family, and since he is the only one left... it fell to him to deal with it. He wouldn't let any of the villagers get mixed up in his clan's issues, no matter if it meant leaving himself.  
It was two days later Echiko heard mention of the ninja again, and from an unlikely source. Early every morning old man Masahiro would milk the few goats kept penned up on their side of the ravine, and Echiko would help him catch and hold them still as he worked, emptying the fresh milk into jars. He held the most stubborn doe by the rope around her neck, rubbing her forehead reassuringly, and looked to the old man as he knelt with the pan to catch the milk.  
"...Is something wrong?" he ventured to ask, seeing the elder did not move.  
"That shinobi..." he said distantly. "You should go with him."  
The abruptness of his suggestion caught Echiko off guard.  
"What-what do you mean, Masahiro-san?"  
There was a pause, yet the old man did not turn to meet his questioning eyes. "It is better for you, if you leave here. You will be happier in a place where you can be accepted as you are."  
"I...don't understand..." Was Masahiro casting him off onto this stranger? Is he finally getting tired of the reproachful looks he receives for taking care of him? He never seemed bothered by them before. And even if that were true, why so suddenly...? The ninja left days ago!  
"The shinobi... he came here yesterday," Masahiro clarified. "He asked about your family. He had hoped they were still alive, and was very grieved to hear what had happened." And then he placed a withered hand on Echiko's shoulder. "You have a relative in Konohagakure willing to take you in, Echiko-kun! You mustn't let this chance go."  
But Echiko's mind was reeling from this news. Relative? He could only think of one person.  
"H-how do you know this ninja is-is telling the truth?" He asked, not that he disbelieved him. Only she never sent word, not once, since she left. He was so angry at her, and she didn't seem like she cared. So why look for the family she left behind now? _Father said she was dead to us._  
"When he comes again, you will discern for yourself," was all Masahiro answered, and he began milking once more.

The silence between them was nerve-wracking. As soon as he was able, Echiko darted from the goat pen, not wanting to speak anymore to the old man. A familiar tenseness rose in his chest, one sometimes he felt he bore since as long as he knew how to walk and speak. It was the feeling of not being wanted.  
So preoccupied in his thoughts, Echiko did not see where he was going until a voice he did not wish to hear invaded his mind. He almost face-planted into a tree.  
"Hey... did you hear about the ninja who was here the other day?"  
"Yeah?"  
Just past Echiko's tree sat the two bullies who had beaten him up the other day, lounging on bales of hay in front of the storehouse.  
"Guess what I heard yesterday?" The one named Shoji kicked his feet up into the air.  
"Do you have to do this all the time?" complained the other boy whom Echiko recalled was named Kunio. "Why don't you just tell me?"  
"Fine, fine. Listen. I heard some people talking last night about him, and you won't believe this, but, apparently he has some connection to that cripple with the blue hair."  
"No, seriously?" Kunio's mouth was agape.  
"And I'm like, why? What would he do with him? Sell him for body parts?" He laughed at his own joke.  
"Do they do that?" the other boy asked incredulously.  
"Heck, who knows. I heard that warring countries experiment on captured shinobi to learn their secrets."  
"Ack, I'd hate to be _him_."  
"No kidding!"

Thump. Echiko collapsed far from their words in a clump of trees outside the village, breathing heavily and fidgeting with anxiety. _This is stupid._  
Much of the snow that had cloaked the countryside the week before had melted, leaving patches of dirty white in fields of soft mud, yet the misty haze remained ever present blocking out the sun. Humidity clung to his coat and formed a layer on his exposed skin like beads of sweat. He shivered. What was he going to do?  
"I can't... I can't... do this anymore," he whispered to himself. What happened to the carefree life he took for granted when he was younger? Things have certainly changed since then. _Now I just want to go home..._  
He touched his cheek and frowned. _I'm such a crybaby. What's wrong with me? Why can't I just be normal like everyone else? But no, I am the shinobi spawn. I am the cripple. I am the orphan who can't belong. I'm not wanted. I'm useless._  
His abdomen cried out in pain as he sobbed into his sleeve, wishing the whole world would just go away. But just as he wished so, recollections began to flood his mind and suddenly he was drawn into the past, finding himself sitting in in a bed of grass in front of his house in the mountains. Here the breeze was warm and gentle, flowing through the clothes hung to dry on a line beyond him, rustling the leaves above his head and giving voice to the chirping birds in their branches.  
The first person he saw was his mother, sliding open the door with a large basket of laundry in her arms, her dark blue hair lazily tossed atop her head, the golden sun setting her skin aglow as she sung aloud the lullaby she would often sing to him: [[Author's note: I stole this song from somewhere, I don't remember where. It's just filler]]

_ "There is more that rises in the morning, _  
_ than just the sun;_  
_ There is more that shines in the night_  
_ than just the moon._  
_ It is more than just this fire_  
_ that keeps us warm, in a shelter_  
_ that is larger than this room."_

Another voice joined hers, and his twin Emiko appeared with her bright smile to help her mother with the chores.

_"There is a loyalty that runs deeper _  
_ than mere sentiments;_  
_ a music higher than the songs that I can sing._  
_ The substance of the earth _  
_ competes for the allegiance I owe _  
_ only to the giver of all good things._

_ So if I stand, _  
_ let me stand on the promise _  
_ that You will pull me through._  
_ And if I can't, _  
_ let me fall on the grace that _  
_ first brought me to You._

_ And if I sing, let me sing for the joy, _  
_ that has born in me these songs;_  
_ And if I weep, let it be _  
_ as a man who is longing for his home._

_ There is more that dances on the prairies _  
_ than the wind;_  
_ More that pulses in the ocean _  
_ than the tide._  
_ There is a love fiercer than the love between friends,_  
_ More gentle than a mother's _  
_ when her baby's at her side."_

The tune floated through his mind, and he raised his eyes, finding himself face to face with a tall man standing a few yards away. Clean-shaven and remarkably young, the stranger gazed at him with no hint of malevolence or sympathy. Hair a dusty shade of brown and skin tanned, he probably was from inland Fire Country. A pair of square-rimmed glasses rested underneath his obviously tired eyes.  
"Are you finished crying over yourself?" he said, as if he had been there for some time.  
Heat rushed into Echiko's cheeks. "W-what do you want...?"  
"A child I know would always say 'I wasn't crying, I just got dirt in my eyes,' even though he wears protective goggles all the time," the man continued, pushing his glasses up his nose with one finger. His eyes never left Echiko. "Nakayama, is it?"  
When Echiko didn't answer he sighed, loosening his rigid posture as he said, "Look, I'm not here to convince you to come with me. I was just supposed to find out what happened to Nakayama Takahiro and his family after his daughter learned about the incident, as a favour to her and Daisuke-san. You know, her husband. I didn't think I'd come to find only one survived..." He sounded distant momentarily, but then he crouched to Echiko's level and studied him.  
"You look just like Kimi-chan, yet you seem completely opposite in personality considering she talks so much," was his quite accurate assessment.  
Echiko grimaced. "You-you know nothing about me."  
"That may be true," he responded. "However, I do know your sister quite well, and she never ceased to talk about her adorable twin siblings."  
_That's not true! She chose to forget us!_ "She is dead to us..." Echiko muttered, instinctively repeating what his father said when Kimi married outside the clan and moved away. "...That's what Father says."  
The stranger frowned. "Do you honestly believe that?" Standing up again, he said, "Your father is dead. Decide for yourself who you want to be dead to now."  
Echiko stared at the young man. What was he saying? The ways of his father were so ingrained in his memory, he confused them with the wishes of his own heart. "What... does it matter...?"  
"It matters. You are only human – your life depends on the answer you choose. Do you choose to live with the living, or stay to die with the dead?" He added, barely audible, to himself, "_And why am I suddenly giving life-lectures to children?_"  
Live... with the living? Echiko's palms burned from balling his fists so hard, recognizing all at once what he had been doing this whole time. This whole time, he wasn't surviving – ever since the incident happened, he felt as if he died there buried where his left leg was crushed underneath the heavy beams broken by cascading rock off the mountainside. His sister's hand, inches away, but he couldn't see her face. Everything was dark, he couldn't remember even getting pulled out of the rubble.  
Was he still stuck in that place? He hadn't thought about it, or rather tried to not think about it, until now. And the realization was like his life's blood was flowing back through his veins. It was warm.  
"Can... can I go, with you?"  
"Yeah." The shinobi's gaze softened. "I think she'd like that." A hand went to a pouch at his waist, so quickly and unexpected that Echiko's heart skipped a beat in apprehension, knowing upon instinct to never let his guard down even among friends. However nothing came of it. "Here, this is yours I believe." The shinobi tossed what looked like a bundle of of fist-sized scrolls to Echiko, who stared at them in return.  
"Where... did you get these?" His voice was quiet.  
"They were all I could find when I investigated the rubble of your house in hopes of some clues about where you had gone."  
"Oh." Echiko hesitated. "You searched... the whole house?"  
"Yes... was I supposed to find something more?"  
_Yes, there is something more..._ "No... nevermind." Echiko stuffed the not-so-important rolls of paper inside his coat with an ambiguous cough. He couldn't fool the ninja, he was sure, but the man didn't pursue the subject. Instead, he turned around as if to walk away as he said, "By the way, my name is Ohayashi Hijame. I'll meet you tonight by the roadside and we'll head out from there."  
"Wait... what?" Echiko blinked rapidly. "Why leave at night?"  
"Because... I don't particularly care to let all the villagers know I'm still here and that you're going to be coming with me." Before Echiko could conjure up an excuse, the shinobi was gone.  
Well he supposed that made sense.

That evening, everything Echiko owned lay neatly in his still nearly empty rucksack. A pair of old clothes, sandals, the bundle of scrolls. A short whittling knife along with a salvaged pouch of tools. A necklace he made for his twin out of chain and wire some time ago. He gently set a napkin filled with goat cheese and biscuits inside and tied the top, casting one last glance at Masahiro's sleeping form before exiting the tent into the night. It was late enough that only embers remained of the camp's fires, and far above he could see twinkling stars peeking through gaps in the dense and dark sky. Yes, he was ready to move on.  
He climbed silently out of the ravine. His traveling partner should be waiting just outside the village by the main road that crossed through the rice fields, though he highly doubted he'd be in plain view. It just wasn't a shinobi's way.  
Darkness was said to be a ninja's ally, and as he passed the storehouses by the hill he noticed it was also far from quiet. Crickets chirped continuously a melody occasionally complemented by a hoot from an owl or cry from a wolf. Toads stirred the pools of water contained in the fields for the rice, and Echiko slapped off several mosquitoes that tried to land on his skin before he eventually emerged from the village. His feet took to the path before him without looking back.


	2. Chapter 2

"How old are you?"  
"Ten."  
That's pretty much all that was said between them the first few days. Over half that time he had to be carried, as his legs had become so weak from being an invalid for so long. Echiko didn't feel like talking, and it seemed his companion didn't mind silence either. But he could sense the tension between them, like some sort of wall that the man had put up as if he didn't want to get close to him. Yet he could also tell he was itching for some sort of distraction, like his thoughts were eating him up inside and he couldn't contain it so it expressed itself in his knotted brow and tight lips. If his thoughts were anything like his own, then he understood the difficulty.  
They came to a hut by the wayside and procured two bowls of curry from the owner, eating on one of the benches outside. Echiko hadn't given much thought to where they were headed, and didn't ask. He'd deal with it when they get there. But his mind mulled over what he had heard the stranger, Hijame, and the old man talk about, that his sister and her husband would be there. His sister... did he mean Kimi? Of course. There was no one else.  
So she hadn't forgotten about him.  
The slightest form of a smile touched his lips, and he ate more vigorously and even finished the bowl, something he hadn't accomplished in months. All the while Hijame watched him, like a spectator, wondering what was going through his head.  
And the scenery changed and it was like they traveled to a different world entirely. The harsh and cold rocky mountains and marshy valleys gave way to rolling hills and a brilliantly clear, warm sky. They came into Akimoto, a large town north-east of their destination, where a festival celebration was occurring and people and vendors selling strange things were everywhere. Lanterns were strung over the streets and illuminated the crowds with an array of colours, but the lively din penetrated Echiko's ears in an altogether unpleasant way. There were too many people. Uncomfortable, he drew his hat farther over his eyes and stayed as close to his guide as possible without touching him until they were just passing the outskirts of the town. Hijame stopped short, and Echiko looked up.  
"Well if it isn't Minato-sensei's troop of genin," the man said aloud. A moment later a slender form flashed before their eyes, standing squarely in front of the dusty travelers with his arms crossed. He looked to be only a few years older than Echiko, but set on his forehead was a metal protector etched with the symbol of Konoha Village, a leaf, showing he was a full-fledged shinobi, or ninja.  
That's right... ninja. It's been a long time since he's met anyone with that title, but he could always tell. Hijame was definitely one of them, too. _And me... I am one of them._  
"Hijame-senpai," the boy said respectfully. His silvery-white hair stuck out from under his headband and all of it generally tilted to the left side of his head and bobbed as he nodded. He wore a short-sleeved suit that ended at his knees, a mask ever present over the lower half of his face, with a cross-piece belt wrapped around his torso. He held himself with reserve as if ready to spring into battle at a moment's notice.  
His two friends were not quite as naturally attuned.  
"Hey! Hey Kakashi, wait up!" Another boy huffed into view, clearly irritated with his companion enough not to notice the strangers on the road before he almost tripped into them. Following closely behind looked to be a sweet-tempered, brown haired girl who quickly recognized the tall young man beside him.  
"Hijame-san! What are you doing here?" She clapped her hands, two purple squares on her cheeks glowing as brightly as her eyes.  
"Kakashi, Rin, Obito," Hijame acknowledged. Echiko looked on in wonder.  
The second boy was dumbstruck for a second, taking a bit longer to catch on. Then his hands grasped the enormous pair of goggles strapped to his head as he exclaimed, "Oh!" And then trying to appear smarter than the others he added, "Weren't you on a really secret mission, Hijame-san?"  
"If you were any less dense you would have noticed that he's on the road back to Konoha, Obito," was Kakashi's terse interjection. Obito growled at him.  
"You idiots. I see it's just the three of you today," Hijame said quickly, his demeanor quite completely reversed from what it had been before the group showed up. His tone was oddly pleasant and happy. Was he just a good actor or was it real?  
"Sensei was called away," the girl Rin explained. Obito's words almost rolled over her.  
"Who is this?"  
He was staring rather obtrusively in Echiko's face, who had silently been watching their whole episode play out, not sure what to think.  
"Ah, I'm sorry, Echiko – these are some students I happen to know." Hijame pulled Obito back by his hair and smiled, which Echiko noticed was the first time he smiled since he met him, and it didn't seem fake either. "I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot of each other in the future."  
Rin held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Echiko-kun! I'm Rin."  
He took her offered hand somewhat hesitantly.  
"And I'm Uchiha Obito!" proudly stated the second boy as soon as he freed his hair from Hijame's grasp. "And that moron over there is Kakashi."  
"I'm not a moron," Kakashi bristled.  
"Yeah, anyways, we're on a C-Rank mission in Akimoto. We get to stay and see all the festival lights!" he gleamed. "I heard they sell cool masks and scarves and stuff too. Oh and dango! I wonder if they have any dishes with tomatoes? And-"  
"-And we're on mission so we better get going," Kakashi said, shoving the other boy out of his rambling. "It was good to see you, Hijame-senpai."  
"Have fun."  
"Just 'cause you're chuunin doesn't mean you can push us around," pouted Obito as he was being dragged off, however he turned back with a grin and waved. "See you around, Echiko! Hijame-san!"  
The three of them disappeared around the corner.

He surprised even himself by speaking first. "...They are...?"  
"Shinobi, or ninja, just like you are, though they've been trained since a young age." His companion looked at him. "They are one of our most promising young teams."  
"...'Genin' and 'chuunin'?"  
"They're rankings we use to determine the level of skill a shinobi has. Genin are the lowest rank and are mostly students fresh out of our Academy. Chuunin are second-level rank, and jonin are elite. There is also specialized task forces which consist of ninja even more skilled than jonin." He paused. "That boy Kakashi and I are both chuunin rank. Can you tell which of us has the most talent?"  
It was a rhetorical question, and Echiko wasn't thinking about his personal jealousy. Rather the word 'Academy' caught his interest and he recalled hearing about it before. They have an Academy to teach the children to become shinobi? His father had been his only teacher, and he figured the various shinobi clans taught their own children as well. But maybe he was wrong.  
"You will most likely be enrolled in the Academy following your arrival, if that's what the Hokage and the council decide for you. Honestly I have no idea why they even bothered..." His voice went strangely quiet, and Echiko was left to determine what he meant by that as they continued down the well-traveled road toward that famed city called Konohagakure.

At first from the stories about the place he thought it would have been well hidden, as it was called a 'Hidden Village' after all. But it was exactly the opposite. The place was enormous, and out in the open, surrounded by these huge trees that were as tall as the outer walls themselves, which were ridiculously tall. The road to the village's Main Gate was wide and flat, enough room for a whole caravan of dignitaries and travelers to come all at once if need be, and at this time of day it was relatively busy as those who lived and farmed outside the walls came in and out.  
The Gate itself was a masterpiece, with its solid wooden doors tinted green, and up above on the archway the painted symbol of a leaf stood out like a ruby to all who entered, like a watchful guardian on the walls. And as beautiful as the entrance was, it felt also just as formidable, the cold stone frightfully bare, reminding him of the sheer cliffs of the mountains back home. He began to shiver uncontrollably as they walked under its great shadow and approached a decent sized cabin that looked to be a guardhouse, though Hijame passed by it without much of a glance, and Echiko was quick on his heels.  
This village, though a lot more modern in design, felt as alive as Akimoto, even livlier. Little shops, colored flags and enticing signs hanging in their entryways, were lined all along the roads, three-story homes and apartments scattered throughout, stacked together, with women pinning clothes to dry from the windows while below citizens and ninja alike loitered around in conversation under the canvas-shaded doorways. The air wafted with the smells of hot soup and baked breads, and as the evening light faded, lamps of all sizes brightened up, settling the village in a comfortable glow.  
Strangely, it was comfortable. Was it just because he knew that shinobi clans like his own lived here in harmony with the regular commonfolk? Was that the reason? His sense of wanting to belong was greater than ever, but... could he belong here? What if they were just like the others? Nothing was ever as perfect as it seems.  
They were heading straight towards an enormous cliff that served as the southern boundary of the village, and his mouth gaped open. It wasn't just a cliff, it was a monument. Carved into its face were three heads and room for more, and he recalled reading about this in his history books. Those heads were the previous military leaders of this country, the founders of this village and the keepers of peace and war, and the last one... the last one was the current Hokage, the old man with the pointy goatee. _That man..._ he remembered his father's discontent as clear as day, when he said he didn't trust that man. What did he mean? Why?  
They entered a lobby at the base of a fat, round tower with little square windows along the rim, and skipped up the stairs to the third, no fourth level, down a twisted hallway, and approached a set of doors having passed as many as a dozen guards and others along the way. Before his guide even knocked on the door Echiko had a feeling he already knew who they were meeting. An old man's voice called out from within the room.  
"Come in, Ohayashi-san."  
The room wasn't very big, and along its curved walls were tall windows with bamboo shades to regulate the amount of sunlight streaming onto the paper-stacked desk on the far side of the office. There in a padded chair sat a relatively old man, perhaps in his late fifties, the same pointy goatee as in the rock depiction, his narrow wrinkled eyes gleaming as he welcomed them with a smile and a gesture to come forward.  
"I have completed my mission, Hokage-sama. Here is my report." Hijame bowed and placed the scroll on the desk.  
"Excellent, excellent," the old man nodded his partially bald head. "You have done well, Hijame-kun. Is this child the survivor you mentioned in your message?"  
"Yes, sir, the boy is Nakayama Echiko, the son of Nakayama Takahiro."  
"I see, indeed, there is much resemblance. I'm sorry about what happened, Echiko-kun. You have my condolences."  
Echiko avoided his piercing gaze until it returned its attention to Hijame. "Were you able to find anything at the site?"  
"There was no trace that someone had been there, but I did find the seals had been deactivated and any information that might have been stored there was missing. There's a more detailed account in my report."  
"That is unfortunate. It is my fault for not having been aware of the situation sooner." He was thoughtful for a moment. "Alright, then. You are dismissed. Please escort the boy to Shimizu's, though, would you?"  
"Of course, Hokage-sama," Hijame bowed again and pulled Echiko back out the door and down the twisted stairs, picking something up at the secretary's desk before exiting the building with a condescending sigh. "Well that's finally over. Come on, Daisuke-san's probably home, and your sister too. I know them both well, you will like it here."  
They avoided the crowded areas, and detoured through the back streets until they came upon a more old-fashioned residential district where all the houses were traditional and simply designed.

[[Author's note: for some reason, I switched point of views to Hijame. Whatever]]

The house they approached differed little from the ones beside it except for the weeping plum tree rooted by its front porch, which would have been beautiful given any other season, its twisted branches bare and gloomy in the fading light as is. Gloomy the home was not, however, as Hijame hoped the boy would find and warm up to.  
Lighting onto the porch, Hijame ignored formalities and let himself in the unlocked door, as he would any other day. "Hello Senpai, are you home? Kimi-chan?"  
There was a commotion toward the back of the house, and a deep voice called out, "Just one second! Ow!" A series of grunts and exclamations ensued, along with the sound of something heavy falling to the floor, before an orange-haired man emerged grinning wearily, his arms completely weighed down with a mass of books and scrolls, and other odd paraphernalia.  
Hijame sighed. "What are you doing, Daisuke-san?"  
"Don't worry about me, Hijame-kun," he sing-songed, "Come, sit down! You can move that stuff wherever. I haven't organized that pile yet." He was referring to the living room floor, which likewise was covered with a sea of papers spilling from the low table in the center of the room. "I see things haven't changed here," Hijame mumbled to himself. He sat Echiko down beside him. He wasn't even sure if his friend had noticed the boy yet.  
"I have some troubling news," he decided to start, wishing Kimi was around so he wouldn't have to say it again.  
Daisuke was serving the tea, and he glanced up, his piercing green eyes suddenly very wise. "I already know."  
"Wait, what? You do?" Hijame unconsciously wrapped his fingers around the mug he was given.  
"After the last summon you sent me, I asked Hokage-sama if I could look into it. What I found out was quite unsettling." He passed Echiko his cup, smiling as he added, "It's good to see you again, Echiko-kun. I'm glad you're alright."  
"But what did you learn?" Hijame insisted, eager to know what his senpai had uncovered.  
"Bah! Such a gloomy subject, why don't we discuss this later, hm?" He waved him off, picking up one of the papers on the table.  
Hijame backed off reluctantly, understanding what he implied. Whatever he discovered, it was not something that they could bring up in front of the boy. That was too harsh. But he felt he had a hard time waiting for his answers.  
"I've already made preparations for Echiko to stay with us," Daisuke was saying, "and enrolled him in the Academy. Is that alright with you, Echiko-kun?" The kid just nodded, unable to say no or yes to anything at this point. "You'll get to have your own room, at least until the little one is old enough to walk and talk. Oh! Hijame, you didn't tell him? Well I have news for you, Echiko! You're going to be an uncle!" He reached over the table and patted Echiko's blue hair. "I'm terribly excited, and it won't be long of a wait now! You have to see Kimi. She's HUGE."  
Hijame rolled his eyes. Sometimes he wondered how this man ever became his senpai.  
"But anyways, Hijame, how did you come about finding him?" Daisuke's attention returned to the matter at hand. "It was impossible for me to tell of anyone had survived, and your letter was quite vague." Hijame briefly recalled sending off his messenger bird after he had approached Yamaguchi and heard the rumors.  
"The villagers talk, Senpai," he replied. "I was able to track him down due to their superstitious gossip."  
"Superstitious?"  
"Yes, they believed the same destruction would befall them if they took in the refugees, because of the ninja among them."  
"Pfft," Daisuke snorted. "My, you don't hear that every day. But I suppose you can't blame them."  
"No," Hijame paused. "I really had no idea that's how common-folk perceive us shinobi, in our own country. Our feuds with each other are detrimental to their peaceful existence."  
"Hmm." They sipped their tea. "Mm, Echiko-kun, what did you think?" Daisuke probed.  
The boy was silent for a moment. "...They are afraid... of what they don't understand."  
Daisuke inclined his head. "The citizens in Konoha are not all shinobi either, yet they live together with us without fear. Is it because we protect them that they understand and accept us?"  
"Daisuke-san," Hijame said. "The only reason we have need to protect them is because shinobi exist in the first place. And we not only exist, but we train our children and make our living by fighting and killing. I believe the results of this system were the First and Second Shinobi Wars. If that system was crushed, would not the commoners have nothing to fear?"  
"Wars and bloodshed will still continue whether ninja are involved or not." Daisuke ran a hand through his hair. "We seem forever fated to fight amongst ourselves. We could be farmers or gods and it would not make a difference. Well, except for a little change in terrain." He chuckled.  
Hijame realized it was getting late. "Where is Kimi-chan, by the way?"  
"Hm, I recall she was helping at the hospital. She may not get back for a while." He swung himself up. "Well, why don't we go for a midnight stroll and go look for her? Sound exciting, boys? You know you're welcome to stay tonight, Hijame-kun. You won't get Kimi's wonderful cooking in that stuffy old apartment of yours."  
Hijame agreed, but only because he still had so much on his mind.

They made their way back out of the old prefecture and through the cheery lantern lights around the village's market streets. There were less people about now, but every so often a passerby would say hello and speak a few words with Daisuke and listen to him brag about his new ward, who tried to stay out of the spotlight to no avail. Hijame switched positions restlessly, feeling like taking to the rooftops and returning with Kimi in two seconds. He wasn't much of a leisurely walker, something which Daisuke loved to do, and the thoughts turning over and over in his head were becoming oppressive.  
He jerked when something tugged at his sleeve. It was Echiko. He was pointing off in the direction of the Hokage's Office, his voice soft with wonder. "Those faces on the cliff... they are, Senju Hashirama and Tobirama?"  
Hijame gazed toward the towering monument of all the military leaders, the Hokage, carved into the cliffside, glowing reminiscently in the moonlight. He had no idea the boy knew anything about the First and Second Hokages. "Yes, you're correct." He said. "And the third carving is Sarutobi Hiruzen, our current Hokage." The rock showed the depiction of an old man with spiky hair and a goatee, set against his two, younger-looking predecessors as they all stared ominously over the village. It's not every day you get to see three giant heads glaring down on you – unless, of course, you live here.  
"What do you know about them?" questioned Hijame, mainly just to kill time. Daisuke was blabbering off to someone he vaguely recognized, so he figured they weren't going anywhere anytime soon.  
"Senju Hashirama founded Konohagakure," Echiko said. "Along with Uchiha Madara and Tobirama, his brother... He was a wood-user and is considered to be the 'God of Shinobi.' ...Uchiha Madara turned on him and left the village, and their statues stand at the Valley of the End." He paused. "Senju Tobirama was a powerful water-user and the creator of Space-Time Ninjutsu."  
This was probably the most he's ever heard the boy say. "Not very many kids your age can remember all that, even here at the Academy." Hijame himself focused more on physical study than reading old books back in his Academy days. "What about Sarutobi Hiruzen?"  
There was some hesitation before he said, "...my father did not like him."  
Confusion swept over Hijame's countenance. What's that supposed to mean? "He is a very compassionate and indulging old man, from what I know of him." Also rather strict and stingy when he's not in the best mood.  
But Echiko was quiet again, and Daisuke soon herded them over a bridge and down to the medical center to find Kimi.  
"Ho, is my wife around here somewhere?" He inquired of the receptionist at the desk. But before the clerk could get his name, a notepad clattered to the ground on the other side of the room and all heads turned.  
"Eh?... E-Echiko-kun?" Her voice was high but everyone recognized her. Her long, flowing blue hair fell close to her hips, a slender hand holding one side of her swollen belly as she stopped there stricken with surprise. She wore a medics' coat loosely over her pale blue yukata with her name on it.  
It was Kimi.  
"Hm, see? Didn't I tell you she's enormous, Echiko-kun?" Daisuke laughed. No one, of course, payed much attention to him as Echiko stood stock still, an enigmatic flurry of emotions playing across his face. Hijame all of a sudden became very uneasy. What if this doesn't work out? He knew the boy had some abandonment issues with his sister, but he hadn't thought as far as how to resolve it. He only hoped Kimi instinctively knew what to do.  
And she did. In two seconds she passed through the reception hall and without warning, took the stiff boy into her arms and embraced him. "Oh dear God, Echiko-kun, you're alive!" Her heart was in her words and tears and she held onto him, his small body barely encompassing her expanded torso.  
Echiko's eyes were wide, and slowly, he accepted his sister's affection and buried his head in her shoulder, tears of his own forming. Hijame smiled. That boy is such a baby.

It was later that night back in the Shimizu household that Hijame finally broached what was on his mind to Daisuke as they sat alone outside on the porch, gazing into the clear night sky.  
"Daisuke-senpai," he said slowly. "Why are you sending him to the Academy?"  
The older man readjusted the collar of his robe lazily. "Why not?"  
Kimi was with the boy now, preparing a bath for him as soon as supper was over and talking incessantly to him the entire time.  
Hijame sighed, wondering about the starry-eyed couple's sanity. "Did you honestly get a good look at him or did you fail to see the boy weighs less than sixty pounds and is missing his left leg?"  
"He is a Nakayama, did you forget?" The implication in Daisuke's deep tone sent a chill down his spine.  
"I... I know he is a Nakayama," Hijame frowned, "but that has nothing to do with this. He _can't_ become a shinobi, Daisuke-san."  
"I thought he already was," was Daisuke's nonchalant answer.  
Their bantering back and forth was getting nowhere. "Senpai, why can't you see? He's broken. He can't fight. He'll sooner be killed in the Academy before he even makes it on field missions!" Unwittingly he had raised his voice, but he continued nonetheless. "And the other children, they'll crush him! He'll be treated no better than a jinchuuriki, Senpai. Do you honestly think that's the best for him after all he's been through!?"  
There was a pause and the crickets filled the silence before Daisuke spoke again.  
"I haven't told you what I found out in my investigation yet, Hijame-kun. I have a very good reason for what I am doing."  
Hijame blinked. "Your... investigation?"  
"Echiko-kun being from the Nakayama Clan, much more so its heir, has _everything_ to do with it."


	3. Chapter 3

Echiko bit his lip, staring at the stack of paper before him.  
"Oh, it's just a little placement test!" Daisuke had exclaimed when he dumped the pile into his arms and escorted him to the living room which was, surprisingly, clean today, and sat him down at the low table. "Just answer all the questions that you know, and don't worry about the rest. This afternoon I'll take you to the Academy for your physical exam. Sound fun?"  
_No, not really..._ Echiko sighed, wondering how he got himself into this mess. How long is this test going to take, anyway? He skimmed through the pages. _Eh, I don't think I want to know._  
At the top of the first page he noticed a paragraph that stated "Admission Requirements for Konoha's Academy," below which was said, "'1. Love the village and hope to help preserve peace and prosperity; 2. Have a mind that will not yield, able to endure hard training and work; 3. Be healthy in mind and body.' If the above conditions are met, admission to the Academy will be granted."  
He blinked. That was their admission requirements? It sounded so... contrary from what one expected a ninja to be...  
The questions began right after.

"**Question**: What is a Shinobi?"

He dipped his pen into the ink well. He might as well go ahead and do it.

"_A shinobi... is one who has the ability to manipulate chakra to create and use techniques called jutsu._  
**Question**: What is required of a shinobi?  
_A shinobi is required to be a tool for achieving their village and country's goals._  
**Question**: Upon becoming a shinobi, one must abide by specific rules when out in the field. Answer whether these statements are true or false:  
1\. A shinobi must never show their tears.  
2\. A shinobi must see the hidden meanings within the hidden meanings.  
3\. A shinobi does not have to follow their commander's instructions.  
4\. It is not necessary for a shinobi to prepare before it is too late to.  
5\. A shinobi must never show any weakness.  
6\. A shinobi isn't required to always put the mission first.  
7\. Emotions are considered unnecessary things."

He hated these kinds of questions because they always hit close to home, but his pen scribbled fluidly across the page and on to the next, as if he were answering to a child's curiosity.

"**Question**: What basic tools do shinobi use? Name at least five.  
_Kunai, Shuriken, katana, explosive tags, wire._  
**Question**: What is chakra? Name the Five Chakra Elements.  
_Chakra is the molding of physical and spiritual energy that, once molded, can be channeled through chakra coils to any of the 361 chakra points in the body, which then can be controlled and worked through hand seals to produce jutsu._  
_The five Chakra Elements are Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Water._  
**Question**: Define Nature Transformation and Shape Transformation...  
**Question**: Describe the dangers of chakra exhaustion...

**Question**: Expound on the three basic types of justu techniques.  
_ Ninjutsu: mostly physical techniques using chakra. Genjutsu: illusionary techniques. Taijutsu: body techniques, like martial arts._

**Question**: Define the Will of Fire."

Echiko hesitated. He was sure he had heard that phrase somewhere before. But what did it mean? He scrunched up his face, realizing he had started to chew on the end of his pen._ I suppose I will have to leave this one blank..._  
When he looked up at the clock again it was long past noon, but he could smell something delicious wafting from the kitchen and he sighed, glad he hadn't missed out on lunch. Glancing at his sheet he shuffled them neatly in order, figuring he was finished. He was able to answer most of the questions easily and only left a few blank. That was good, right? He felt some relief because he studied so much back home.  
He slid open the door that led outside and plopped down on the porch, the blazing sun warming his skin and hair. The sky was so clear in this village, and even though it was winter there was not a snowflake in sight. He had no idea how different the weather could be in the same country, knowing only the frigid winters and hot summers of the mountains.  
Echiko kicked his bare foot over the clear pondwater that stretched behind the house, fiddling absentmindedly with the wide collar of his new shirt. The style of clothing was different here too. The fabric was... softer? More elastic, anyway. He supposed he should have expected as much from a ninja village, after all.  
Kimi had gone and bought him several pairs of clothes, a few shirts of which she customized herself and sewed on the backs the Nakayama clan symbol. "Then everyone will know you are a Nakayama, and the pride of our clan," she said with tears in her eyes, as if it carried great weight.  
Echiko frowned. He knew he was the heir to the Clan, since his father was the Head, but he really didn't know much else about his clan or the members bearing its name. He was told they lived scattered in many villages along the border of Fire Country, their sworn duty to protect it from infiltration. The Clan also worked as part of the Daimyo's protective guard, or the Guardian Shinobi Twelve which was a group of elite warriors sworn to the Daimyo. Echiko never knew any of them, much less saw another Nakayama in his life.  
Why did they live so far away in the mountains? If his father was the Clan Head, wouldn't it have been more beneficial to the clan if he remained with them? So many questions, yet he was never able to bring them up to his father. Now he couldn't even if he wanted to.  
"Ho, is that you, Echiko-kun?"  
Echiko blinked at the man standing in the archway. This was the first time he saw Daisuke wear anything other than a casual robe, noticing the long sleeved jounin outfit, capris, and a thin, long shirt cast over his shoulders. Except for the thongs he always wore, he looked completely different.  
"Hn?"  
"Are you ready to go?" He waved the completed test papers in his hand at a fly.  
"Oh...what about lunch?" He had forgotten about the physical exam, and his stomach turned uneasily. He hated physical exams.  
"Didn't I tell you? You'll be thankful you didn't have lunch by the time it's over," and Daisuke smiled real big, suddenly giving Echiko the chills. Yeah, this is why.

The Academy really wasn't that far away, maybe twenty minutes walking. It was a huge place though, and Echiko had come to understand that the building complex was used for many teaching and training purposes for children and adults alike, as well as being conjoined to the Hokage's Office and an Administrative Branch where missions were assigned daily. A large sign printed with the kanji for 'fire' (火) hung above the office compound, the archways on the rooftop platform visible from at least as far as the outer walls.  
Instead of going inside, they circled around to the back where a fenced-in flat training ground sat behind the school, an array of simple wooden posts, dummies, and other useful instruments situated around the arena. A couple students were occupied with some of them on the far side of the grounds, but Echiko was directed towards a woman in a large coat who sat on one of the posts bent over a clipboard.  
Daisuke had a hand on Echiko's shoulder. "Here you go, Kokoro-san. Can I leave him to you?" He slapped Echiko's test over what she was reading.  
The woman didn't even look up. "Get out of here, Shimizu."  
"I take that as a yes!" Echiko felt himself pushed forward, and he twisted back to see his new brother strolling off already. "Um..."  
A "Damn you, Shimizu!" almost blasted off Echiko's ears and he looked frighteningly at the kunoichi, her tan-skinned face knotted in fury after Daisuke's retreating form before her striking eyes fell on himself. Her countenance immediately changed.  
"D'aww, look at that beautiful blue hair! Oh my gosh!" She was patting his head like a doll. "You look just like Kimi-chan! How adorable. So you must be her little brother come to stay with her? Isn't that sweet!" She took one glance-over at her clipboard and threw it over her shoulder. "So why don't we get started, cutie-pie? That alright if I don't take notes? It's honestly not my thing, so I'll just have you do some stuff and give the administrative an oral report. Sound good? Yeah."  
So stunned was he that Echiko couldn't even manage a word in there before she dragged him into the middle of the grounds and pounced back on her post, head tilted watchfully.  
"Okay little man, here's how this works. I'm going to ask you to preform something and if you don't do it correctly you get a negative. If you do it well you get a positive. Got it?"  
He nervously clenched his teeth and nodded, not really sure at all what she wanted him to do. His experience from training at home with his father was shot through the window, and he was left with nothing but to blindly follow this woman's instructions.  
"Do you know how to control your chakra efficiently?"  
He blinked. "...yes?"  
"Good, good. I supposed I should've gone over your test answers more carefully, but whatever. I want you to apply your chakra to your feet. Can you do that for me, sweetie?"  
He could feel her intense gaze uncomfortably studying his replacement left leg. "Yes..." He stood feet shoulder-width apart and placed his hands to form a seal to help activate his chakra. Then focusing that energy, he directed it to his right heel and the stump of his left leg in the matter of seconds.  
He did not let up his concentration though the woman leaned back with a thumbs up. "Perfect. You look like you've done this before, so can you show me the techniques you already know?"  
"Wh-what... exactly, do you mean?" Echiko stammered, not necessarily wanting to show her _everything_ he's been taught.  
"Oh, you know, the basic jutsu that you were taught as a kid, or whatever your clan teaches their children at a young age."  
He wondered if the basics he was taught was anything the same as was instructed in this place. He placed his hands into seals again.  
"Fire Flare Jutsu!" A thin stream of extremely hot fire shot from his mouth to ignite a bush across the arena, and it altogether disappeared in a whiff of smoke.  
"Ahh, so you're a fire-affinity. Quite similar to the Uchiha, then," she commented.  
More seals, though he didn't try hurrying it to impress her. That never ended well under his father's eye.  
"Transformation Jutsu!" In a puff of vapour he appeared to look like an old farmer in a ragged coat, graying white hair stretched long down his spindly back as he gave a solemn glare at his proctor, who burst into laughter. "My what an imagination you have! Hahaha, oh I'm sorry, continue," she coughed.  
"Shadow Shuriken Jutsu!" He threw two blunted shuriken stars at a dummy, and it was penetrated with twenty. _Only basic jutsu..._ He frowned at himself. He didn't have much to show for it. These were techniques any child could accomplish, but if he preformed more advanced jutsu they would use up his limited supply of chakra too quickly.  
"Are you done?"  
He looked up. "W-well... I know more, but... I shouldn't use them..."  
Surprisingly she nodded. "You know your limits well, I take it. But that was excellent. I'm quite excited for the next part of this exam! Yay!" She flipped off her vantage point and gracefully landed beside him, finger to his chest so fast that he had no idea what happened until his vision cleared to see he was a hundred yards away with his back hard against the dust.  
"Hm, very interesting," she cocked her head annoyingly to the side again. "You reflexively adjusted your position the moment before I touched you, lessening the damage you received from being shot backwards."  
What?... Echiko forced himself up, shaking the sand from his hair. What is she talking about?  
"Alright, little man! Come at me, just taijutsu! You know what that is?"  
"...yes." However he just stood there, a lump in his throat. He hasn't practiced taijutsu since... "I just..." How could he explain it to her?  
"Hey." Her arms were crossed and expression serious like when he had first seen her. "When are you going to get over that stupid leg-loss thing? I know enough about you that it's been months since that incident and you should be used to that hunk of metal for a foot by now. Deal with it, kid. It's part of who you are! No enemy ninja will take pity on you just 'cause you're cripple! Now. Come at me!"  
Her fierce tone numbed him to the core. _How? How can I fight with this...?_ Again she pummeled him to the ground with her finger, but he was paralyzed with uncertainty. He had given up on fighting long ago. He always let them beat him down. If he used chakra he was cast as a freak and an outsider, but he was unable to fight back without it. What was he supposed to do?  
_Stupid, stupid! Get up, Echiko!_ His body was shaking like a leaf, however he felt only slightly sore from the woman's attacks as if she was just tossing him limply around. With one finger. He hated this so much. It was beginning to feel more and more like his father's training...  
A light flickered on inside his mind, remembering the ruthless regimen he was put through each day. He could never, ever, hesitate in his spars with his father, because his father never hesitated. He gained one too many cracked ribs and dislocated joints until his muscles memorized it and was ingrained into his brain.  
How could he forget? Even though he was weak, he certainly knew how to dodge. It would be harder without his left foot, but she was right. It was all he had right now. He had to make it work.  
The proctor was watching him and noticed the change in his stance. "Ah, so you're finally ready, little man?"  
Breath. Controlling his chakra on the sole of his foot and the palms of his hands as his father taught him, through toil and pain, to do it without the hand sign – he shot forward to lend a kick to her right side. As she moved to block it, he twisted his torso and slid past her, bringing his other leg about to swipe at her feet.  
He knew she'd easily avoid it. As she hopped over his swipe his weight transferred to his palms and he spun his whole body around, kicking at her torso. To his shock, instead of dodging the blow, she took it against her forearms which were raised to block him.  
He skid back, almost slipping on his brace.  
"Well now, what fancy moves! I like this, little man!" She grinned. "You could use a little power, though. I doubt I'll even get a bruise from this."  
_Is that why she blocked it? To test my strength?_ He plumped to the ground, exhausted. He knew he'd never pass that part of the test.  
"Hm, did we forget anything? I think we're done..." she glanced around. "Where did I put that notebook?" She effortlessly produced a shadow clone and sent her off to fetch it, sitting herself down beside Echiko. "Are you tiiirred, sweetie?" She extended the word like honey on toast. "How about some ice cream? My treat for you doing such a great job today!"  
Uh... ice cream? His mouth watered. _I haven't had ice cream in... in ages!_ "R-really?"  
"Of course!" The proctor smiled, and then beginning to giggle menacingly she added, "Plus, I just can't pass up the chance of Shimizu freaking out when he returns. Bhahaha!"  
Echiko inched back. This woman was truly, remarkably scary...  
...

"Alright, everyone. Settle down. We have a new student with us today who recently moved here. Understand he has a physical impairment, so please be respectful. I won't tolerate any shenanigans."  
The homeroom teacher's introduction served only to make Echiko even more uncomfortable, wishing he would have left out the 'physical impairment' part which was already painfully obvious to all the children in the room.  
"Um, Sensei?" a hand was raised in the third row. "I thought it wasn't possible to be a ninja with that, uh, kind of problem."  
"In many cases it's not, like for example in loosing an arm you will not be able to preform seals with both hands. But he is an exception. Please introduce yourself, Echiko."  
"N-Nakayama Echiko," he quickly bowed his head toward the students and was sent to sit in the fourth row by a rather feral looking boy, who snarled, "Aw man, why do I have to sit next to the cripple?"  
"Be quiet, Kenji." Though the teacher pretty much ignored all the rest of the student's whispering as he began to write on the chalkboard. "Today we will be studying more on the events of the Second Shinobi World War. Can any of you tell me what we learned yesterday?"  
A girl shot up. "How Honzo the Salamander was defeated and gave the Three Legendary Sannin their name!"  
Echiko watched and listened, the nervousness in his gut refusing to go away. Is this what a classroom was like? Where were the books, the scrolls? The teacher had a few on his desk that he referred to as he lectured the class, but the children either paid attention or didn't at all. Like the boy next to him, who just stared out the window.  
Perhaps they were supposed to find reading material on their own after school? He wasn't liking this system at all. At home he would study all the scrolls they owned by himself and learned everything else from his father and mother. They would quiz him during supper and he had to explain in detail all that he had worked on that day, and if he misunderstood something they had him study it over again. It just wasn't allowed in his family to be lazy. He was constantly learning.  
He sunk into his seat, seeing for the first time in his life how completely oblivious to reality other children his own age were. They were from shinobi families just like him, or at least he knew most of them had to be. Why do they act like they take it for granted?  
Was it just because he grew up somewhere else that he saw things this way? Maybe the concept of being a ninja is so common here that it carried no weight at all. These... children, were just that. Children. They had no idea what life was like outside the protection of their grand village. In that regard they were exactly the same as the non-shinobi farmer kids who taunted him for being different.  
It was the same... it was exactly the same.  
"Echiko, can you tell me what the economical state of Amegakure was during and after the war?"  
"...The country was devastated because it was used as a battleground between the warring nations," was his automatic reply, hardly realizing the teacher had questioned him until the man turned and continued without pause.  
"Yes, and Amegakure eventually lost the war. However because of the hardships the country has endured, it improved its system to become one of the more secure and impenetrable smaller nations known today in the shinobi world."  
Echiko caught the boy beside him mutter under his breath. What was he complaining about this time?  
When the noontime bell rang Echiko jumped in his seat and then sighed. This will take forever to get used to. The entire classroom erupted into a commotion of laughing and talking even as they formed a line by the teacher, who was making a headcount before sliding open the partition to the hallway and escorting them out.  
He joined the end of the line, remembering the bento box his sister had packed for him and snatching it from underneath the bench. Almost all the students had similar sacks in their hands and were trading bites of food as they strolled out of the school and scattered to sit under the shade in various areas around the great yard he had seen the other day. _Where am I going to sit?_  
"Hey, get out of the way, cripple," the feral boy had bumped into him from behind and scowled at him before sauntering off to a secluded corner of the campus. Echiko pouted behind his back for a moment and then went the opposite direction, trying to ignore the stares from the other students who watched him as though he were a shinobi experiment gone awry.  
"Look at the new boy, he's so strange."  
"Where is he from? I've never seen anyone with blue hair in our village."  
"And he's so tiny! He would crack like twig against any enemy ninja!"  
"Yeah, you think so?"  
"What's with that leg of his? What happened to him?"  
"I have no idea, but I've heard his last name somewhere before."  
"What was it, Na-Nakaya-something?"  
"Nakayama. My dad's cousin knows a guy with that name."  
"Huh, well I've never heard of it before."  
"That's 'cause they're not part of Konoha. They serve under the Daimyo."  
"Ohh. So why is one here?"  
"I don't know. Probably an orphan."

The last one who spoke was a girl lounging on the grass with her eyes closed as if the topic wasn't really important. At least she didn't stare like the others.  
"Well I don't think he seems strange," an uncommonly soft voice added to the conversation.  
"You never think bad of anyone, Nya."

There was a ledge next to the school building that Echiko climbed on top of, but his appetite had drained and all he could do was push around the rice and veggies in his bento. The sun glared off of the light-coloured stone into his eyes and he was glad for the cool breeze. Nature at least was forgiving.  
"Whatcha doin' up here all by yourself, new boy?" A familiar sensation tingled all down his spine and through his skin. He was very aware of the three boys' presence on top the roof next to him.  
"What are _you_ doing?" he replied darkly. This time... this time things were going to be different.  
"Whoa, don't get all defensive. We just wanted to ask you something." The others nodded in agreement, and though it was easy for Echiko to see through their ruse, he played along.  
"You see," the same boy stated, "we've been dealing with a lot of problems on the border these past few months. Lots of secret skirmishes going on. We really don't know what's happening out there anymore, and since you're not from around here we figured you might've heard more than us about these... situations."  
Echiko furrowed his brow. What was he talking about?  
"My father says we're in the middle of a secret war," another boy added from Echiko's right. "If we don't know the state of our own borders, how can we defend ourselves from infiltration? So c'mon, you gotta know something. Where did you live before you came here?"  
"...I lived in the mountains." Echiko had an ill feeling about this. It was as if they were expecting him to say something that would prove he didn't belong here.  
"The mountains? Which ones? My memory on the geographics of our country is kinda bad," the first boy chuckled.  
"Mine too, haha."  
The tension in the air was getting thicker. "I know nothing about your 'secret war', I'm sorry."  
"What do you mean? Everybody knows about it. I mean you're a shinobi just like us, after all. It's been going on for a while." The boy put his face up close to Echiko's. "You're telling me you don't know what's going on?"  
"No, I don't. Now please leave me alone..." Echiko stared at his feet, feeling choked.  
"You're obviously lying. We heard you answer all of Sensei's questions without batting an eyelash. You know what I think?" He suddenly grabbed onto his shirt collar. "I think you're a spy for the enemy!"  
_What?_ Echiko gasped, grasping onto the taller boy's wrist as he was lifted off his feet. "Wh-what are you saying?"  
"You heard me right," he glowered, and his friends closed in beside them. "Nobody from Fire Country has blue hair. That's an obvious give-away."  
Echiko couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did they seriously... seriously think he was a spy? Either they were picking on him because he was new or they actually did believe it themselves. He struggled against the boy's hold. "I'm-I'm not a spy!"  
"Pfft, yeah like we'll believe you?" The boy on his left raised his fist, and Echiko braced himself for the impact.  
"You know, accusing someone of being a spy just because of their hair colour is a bit excessive."  
All three boys turned toward the new voice that had decided to come to Echiko's defense and froze. He also twisted his head, wondering how this mystery person managed to sneak up on them, though he felt he recognized the voice from somewhere... His eyes widened in disbelief.  
"Hey! Hey, it's- ah, what was his name? Oh! Echiko! Yeah! Hey!" The second and notoriously familiar voice chimed in, and a tall boy hopped onto the roof beside his friend who had spoken first. It was the two boys from the road to Akimoto – Kakashi and Obito.  
"Eeh?" The boy that had Echiko's collar in his fist immediately dropped him back onto the roof. "I-I wasn't... it's a misunderstanding, that's all-" he freaked out, waving his hands in front of his body like he was trying to keep Kakashi's glare at bay. "C-c'mon guys, we're going!"  
In one bound they ran off as quickly as they had come, leaving Echiko dumbstruck as to what actually happened.  
"Ha! Those guys ran like a bunch of cowards!" Obito cheered until he was bonked in the head by the white-haired older boy.  
"Don't even acknowledge them," he told Echiko. "They aren't worth it."  
"I-" Echiko gazed at the two of them in awe. To make those bullies run like that they must be extremely strong. "...Thanks."  
"No problem! You're our comrade, after all!" Obito grinned. "Comrades look out for each other!"  
"Shut up, Obito."  
"You shut up! I'm just trying to make him feel better!"  
"You didn't even do anything!"  
Their arguing actually calmed Echiko enough that he put aside the accusations of the bullies in his mind, determined not to even give them the satisfaction of stressing over it. Though he had one question...  
"Um... why are you here?"  
The two of them looked at him. "Oh yeah! We just got back from our mission and we were heading to the office to give our report to the Hokage," explained Obito. "We also wanted to find out when Sensei was returning from his mission."  
He didn't realize one was required to report to the Hokage after every assignment. "Who is your Sensei?..."  
"Namikaze Minato," said Kakashi. "Also known as 'Konoha's Yellow Flash'."  
"Oh." Echiko had no idea who that was, or what his nickname meant.  
"Hey, we should get together sometime," Obito suggested, "then you can meet Sensei. Plus it would be cool to do some training with you! I know you're younger but I don't care."  
"Yes, well, we need to report," Kakashi interrupted, and Obito gasped. "Gah! I forgot! See you later Echiko, ok?" And they were off, just like the last time he saw them.

He noticed the kids in his class were gathering again, and he sighed at his untouched lunch. Well he'll just have to eat it later.  
The rest of the school day was occupied with exercises inside the huge auditorium or outside in the training grounds, where they practiced throwing blunted kunai and shuriken at targets to improve accuracy, one on one sparring with assigned partners, and chakra building techniques.  
To say that Echiko knew nothing about competition was an understatement. It was only him and his father back home, and his twin wasn't allowed to practice ninja techniques so he had no one to compete against other than himself. Everyone... it was like one big game as he stood waiting his turn for the next assignment. The other students were constantly pitting themselves against each other, always striving to be the best. It only made him feel sick.  
The area set aside for sparring was by the fence, and the group surrounded the competitors to make a mostly square ring so as to prevent them from going out of bounds. At the beginning and end of each spar, they were required to preform a two-fingered handshake as the teacher called the Seal of Confrontation and Reconciliation.  
"I'll explain this to you again. First, you face your opponent and point your fingers like this," he demonstrated. "This is the symbol of 'combat.' It represents one half of a seal that might be used to activate ninjutsu techniques, and means 'I've come to face you in battle!' When the spar is over, both participants make the symbol of 'combat' and lock their fingers together to make the symbol of 'harmony,' and acknowledge that they are still comrades. This is proper etiquette for a shinobi spar."  
The two boys currently facing each other did so, and with the teacher's signal they charged at each other and fell into a headlock.  
Who in their right mind would charge head on? Echiko wondered. His father had taught him a ninja's greatest advantage was in his ability to strike fast and sure, in order to cripple the enemy before they could attempt a jutsu. If you failed to do so, you are immediately forced to assume the defensive and your opponent has the upper hand, which can ultimately result in your defeat if you cannot withstand his attacks. Ninja battles usually lasted only a few seconds.  
One boy managed to punch the other in the face and break the grip on his shoulders, and he spun around to punch again without noticing the fallen boy's leg swipe and tripped over it. As soon as he hit the ground the other boy was on top of him and the match was finished.  
"Alright, Shigeru and Echiko. You're up."  
Echiko stepped forward, looking for the head of his opponent when the students' whispering caught him off guard.  
"The new boy is gonna die. No one has beaten Shigeru."  
"I want to see how he manages without a real leg."  
"It doesn't matter even if he is decent on his feet. Man, he'll be lucky if he escapes with only a few bruises."  
The boy who entered the ring with him was a face Echiko didn't realize he'd see again so soon. It was the boy from the rooftop. _This is Shigeru?_ He remembered how the punk ran off like a scared cat when Kakashi had defended him, and yet he was undefeated among his class? He grimaced at the comments the other students were making. This was not going to end well.  
"Oh hey look, it's spy boy," Shigeru taunted, taking his place across from him. "I'll get to take you down after all."  
"The Seal of Confrontation, boys," the teacher reminded, and they reluctantly complied, bowing their heads slightly like they were supposed to over their raised hands before assuming a fighting stance.  
This Shigeru... what were his skills? What was his fighting style? Most importantly, what were his weaknesses? His stance was arrogant and wide open as he grinned cockily, and he knew he couldn't underestimate him. He had to believe he was incredibly strong. _I have to do this_. But his heart was beating hard against his chest.  
"Begin."  
Shigeru stampeded forward like a charging bull. _No hesitation_. Echiko instinctively bowed his shoulder as the larger boy, with hands outstretched as if he intended to strangle him, was within arms distance, and used his motion against him by sliding his shoulder and bending his back underneath Shigeru. The boy toppled over him and rolled back onto his feet, expression actually showing surprise for a moment before wiping it away with an angry glare.  
"You just got lucky, spy boy," he growled. "I'll crush-!"  
Echiko was not trained to wait for his opponent to finish spewing whatever he was going to say. He had already moved into his next attack from behind, lending a double kick to the back of the boy's head. The metal on his brace cracked against his skull.  
"Gah!" Shigeru stumbled to the side and held his head, furious now. His hand reached out and took hold of Echiko's arm before he could put distance between them, and with one knee to the gut he sent Echiko hard into the dirt, coughing.  
Shigeru didn't let go of his arm. His foot was about to slam into Echiko's chest again when he was forcefully stopped by the teacher, who had suddenly appeared and threw the boy back by the leg.  
"Match is over. Seal of Reconciliation. Now." He ordered in his ever casual voice.  
Echiko grimaced as he forced himself up. Even just one hit from his opponent sent his stomach reeling. He will have to... remember not to get hit next time.  
Shigeru spat on the ground and raised his chin. "I don't see why I should have to shake hands with this dirty spy, Sensei."  
The other students grew quiet. They knew what was coming. The teacher bent over Shigeru, scrunching the boy's face with his hand to look straight into his eyes as he yelled loudly, "Are you contradicting me, Shigeru!?"  
The boy gasped. "No-no sir!"  
"Then get up and shake hands." He stood, his authoritative shadow cast over the boy who crawled up next to Echiko and uncomfortably shot out his hand. Echiko raised his two fingers and joined them just as reluctantly, before the teacher walked forward and called out the next two students to begin their match.  
This was going to be a long year.  
...

_ "Father, what is this?" I turned my soft grey eyes on his looming form next to me. We were in the cellar where Father kept all of the Clan's important documents beside Mother's aging cheese and fermented cabbage, a tradition to make in our family. I had no idea why Father brought me down here. Usually I wasn't allowed to read the scrolls hidden away in this room._  
_ Father gave me the candle and bent to remove a tatami mat from the floor, revealing underneath a bundle of more books and scrolls. He pulled out one that was extremely long and almost as big as myself. How did that even fit down there?_  
_ "You are six years old now, Echiko-kun," Father said, spreading out the huge scroll on the floor for me to see. "It is time you added your name to the Contract."_  
_ I froze, suddenly understanding what this Scroll before me was. As Father pulled it open, handprints and signatures one after another written in the signer's blood was marked upon the paper. A few of the names I remembered from my history lessons, like our great-great-grandfather's name, and so on. Then I saw Father's signature in his blood, right after Grandfather's, and next to his and his brothers' were two boy's names I did not know. One was crossed out in blood and black ink._  
_ "Who are they?" I asked, curious. "Why is that boy's name crossed out, Father?"_  
_ "You will learn of them when the time comes." Father took my hand in his huge palm and looked into my eyes. "As the tradition, all males of our household must sign the Contract at the age of six years. It will be your duty from now on, Echiko-kun, to uphold the honor of our Clan and train to become a skilled summoner. Will you swear on your life's blood that you will do so?"_  
_ I nodded, wincing at the pain in my palm as Father used his knife to cut through the layer of skin until blood covered my entire hand. I placed my hand down on the blank spot next to the strange boy's name, then used my finger to carefully write my own. There. It is done._  
_ Excited, I forgot about my blood-stained hand and waved my arms above my head. "Can I summon a dragon now, Father?"_  
_ Father used his kerchief to clean and bandage the cut before answering me. "In a little while, son."_  
_ I pouted. I hate being patient. He replaced the Scroll and returned the mat into the floor like nothing was there, and standing me up we exited the cellar. Outside, he instructed me in the hand seals I was going to make._  
_ "Use some of the blood from your right hand," Father suggested. I concentrated my chakra and did so, and quickly forming the set of seals I slammed my hand onto the ground. Nothing happened._  
_ It looked like Father was shaking his head. "Don't try to hurry through the seals, or you'll mess them up."_  
_ Embarrassed, I tried again, this time slowly. When I completed the set, I slapped my hand against my left, and a puff of smoke invaded my vision. I did it!_  
_ A small, scaly form sat atop my left hand. It was about the size of a squirrel, but with wings more than three times that size. It stared at me while snorting steam out of its nostrils._  
_**Takahiro-sama? You've grown quite small. I thought you were taller.**_  
_ "Father, look!" I exclaimed gleefully, and Father patted my head._  
_ "Aizen, this is my son. He summoned you."_  
_** This one did? How interesting!**__ The dragon cackled. __**You just signed the Contract and all you could summon was me? Haha. Oh. Cough. Nevermind. Nice to meet you?**_  
_ "His name is Aizen?" I wondered, hardly hearing the dragon's comment. "I thought dragons would be... bigger."_  
_**Hey kid, watch it.**_  
_ But Father interrupted the conversation. "Aizen, I want you watch over Echiko and assist in his training whenever he summons you. That also goes for the others as well."_  
_** Hm, great. I get to be babysitter. Anything else, Master Takahiro-sama?**_  
_ "You call him Master now, Aizen," was Father's correction._  
_** ...Fine.**__ The dragon flapped its wings before disappearing in another puff of smoke._


	4. Chapter 4

"Daisuke-san..."  
"Hm?"  
They were in the kitchen for breakfast one morning a week after his first day at the Academy and his sister was still asleep, so Daisuke had fried some eggs while Echiko washed and cut up some fruit to eat for themselves. Echiko found he was still mulling over something the bullies had mentioned that day.  
"Is there really... a secret war going on?"  
His brother-in-law flipped an egg over the sizzling pan and glanced up. "Where did you hear that?"  
"Oh... from school."  
"Well," he transferred the eggs to a plate and set it on the table, "if I were to guess, it's not very 'secret' anymore, really."  
"So there is a war going on?" Echiko's heart skipped a beat, and his eyes met Daisuke's plaintive gaze.  
"Yes... yes, sadly there is, Echiko-kun," he said. They ate in silence before he was inclined to say more. "The countries are at each other's throats like it's the Second Shinobi War all over again. Even the smaller countries are involved. And for Konoha, in terms of military power and financial support, it looks like we could end up on the loosing side this time..." He stopped himself. "You're an Academy student, Echiko-kun. Don't worry about these things for now and focus on your studies and improving yourself! We'll need you when the time comes, I know it," and he smiled. "Information is a shinobi's best asset, I recall. We both should keep our eyes and ears open, eh?"  
Echiko only nodded, numb. Is this really happening? Has war truly broken out on the borders between the countries, enough to put Konoha at a disadvantage? Why was everyone so nonchalant about it? They're all so used to battles and war that a whole new conflict looming over them was just another day in the shinobi world.  
No wonder why all the poor border villages were scared.

Echiko took the long route to the Academy, a path his sister had shown him on one of their walks together. It was a beautiful road, passing through the old district and a grove of huge trees turning wonderful shades of red, orange, and yellow. His brace sounded a soft chink as he stepped on the dying leaves and wound around the park, hands in his pockets, contemplating.  
_Improve myself..._ Stopping, he pulled out his hands and looked at them like he always did when he was thinking. _What can I do to make a difference in this world? Or is that even possible, being the way I am?_ He was getting more and more irritated with his unfeeling leg, now that he was training again. It's not because of the students' jokes or stares. He just can't conduct his chakra through that hunk of metal and wood, making him visibly imbalanced when he tries to dodge or attack in any way, shape, or form. It's just stupid.  
He balled his hands into fists, pinching his palms with his nails. Pain. Was that the only thing he knew? How can one learn without pain? These other students... did they really know anything at all? They might seem strong on the school grounds, but they had no idea what life was like outside these walls. They don't know pain.  
But this war... it will certainly get closer. And in a couple years they will be graduated and old enough to go on field missions. What then? Will we be sent onto the battlefield?  
Echiko shivered. Daisuke was telling him to focus on his studies, on his training. He must know at some point in the war the young genin will be called up. But when? How much time is there left? _Am I ready?_  
...No. He opened his palms to reveal red marks where his fingers had dug into. _I'm not ready at all. Improve myself. That's what I must do, for Father, for Mother, for Emiko. For Kimi and her family. I can't let them down, not again._  
A thought crossed his mind, arousing a question that had been there for some time. He bit through his finger suddenly and placed his hands in a peculiar set of seals, ending with the drawn blood on his finger across his palm. There was a puff of smoke.  
**What is this? You haven't called me in a while.**  
There in his palm rested a miniature form the size of a pigeon, but as it stretched its wings it wasn't a pigeon at all. The fabric of its gaping wings was like rubber, and the creature itself was covered in a skin of glossy scales as it raised its long neck, steam blowing out of its nostrils.  
"Hello, Aizen," Echiko said, staring into the little dragon's black marble eyes. Aizen cocked its head.  
**That's interesting. You smell a little different than last time. The air is different too. Are we at a lower altitude?** It twisted its neck around. **We are at a lower altitude. I knew it.**  
Echiko shook his head. Some things never changed. "Aizen."  
**What? What is it? I'm listening. Really I am.**  
"...Can you find out something for me?"  
**Of course I can. Your wish is my command, Master.**  
"I need you to locate the Contract that was in Father's possession before the... before what happened."  
**What, did you lose it, Master?** It cackled, but stopped.** Sorry. Touchy subject. Cough. Sure, I'll find where the Scroll is, pronto. Is that... all, Master?**  
"Actually..." he paused. "I was thinking I might start the training again."  
** ...Echiko-sama!** The bird seemed to glow, much to Echiko's amusement.  
"But yes, that's all for now, Aizen. Thank you."  
**Right. Uh... Master?**  
"Hn?"  
**Glad to have you back.**  
Echiko raised his eyebrows. "Oh. Uh, yeah." The dragon extended its wings and shot up into the air like a lightning blot, fading into a speck in the sky as it soared off.  
That's right. He hasn't used a summon in months. Watching Aizen disappear gave him a strange feeling of connection – to the past he's cut himself off from for so long, and the dragons of his family's heritage... Was he ready for this?  
He sat down on his bench in the classroom, just before the teacher walked in and began to call on the student's names to see if everyone was present, like he did every morning.  
"Today we're going to take a break from history and learn a few valuable skills that may save your life out in the field."  
"Are we going to learn medic-ninjutsu like Tsunade?" blurted a girl in the first row.  
"Medical-ninjutsu takes specialized training, something I don't have the qualifications for to teach you," the teacher responded. "Actually, we are going to learn the basics of trap-making, study fighting styles, and possibly some secrets on how to predict your enemy's plan of attack. Follow me outside, please. Single file."  
"'Possibly?'" Echiko heard the feral boy next to him mutter as he shoved past him. "What kind of teacher says he'll 'possibly' teach his students?"  
He had a point. Echiko tagged along at the end of the line, deciding he probably just misunderstood the Sensei's implication. Maybe it was they 'possibly' might not have enough time in the day to learn everything? Yeah, that had to be it. But really, Echiko was just distracting himself from the question that was nagging on his mind ever since he sent Aizen out. What will the dragon end up finding? Maybe it was destroyed. Or someone just looted his house and made off with it. But even so, the Scroll was important and he had to get it back. It was his duty now that his father couldn't take care of it.  
"Hey, new boy, you're on our team. Get over here."  
Echiko was startled out of his reverie and he looked at the girl who called him. She was tall, with straight redish-brown hair and brown eyes, a peculiar symbol drawn into the front of her skirt. However it wasn't any of those things that drew his attention. It was the irritated face she was making in his direction. There were two others standing by her as well, one boy and another girl, and he realized abruptly that he hadn't been listening to the teacher separate the group into teams. He scampered over, feeling embarrassed at his inattention, but the other kids just ignored him again. He supposed they were hoping he wasn't going to slow them down.  
The day wore on. The teams were apparently for a competition involving setting up workable traps after they were taught the simplest forms in creating one. The team that caught the most clones the teacher sent out, won. Echiko's team was close on the heels of third place, more to the credit of the red-haired girl than anyone else on the team. For as lazy and irritable as she appeared to be, she was incredibly smart. The other two... well, they weren't important. But they did manage to catch a clone in each of their traps.  
Echiko had learned how to create traps in the woods by their home with his father. They brought home meat all the time that way. It was how they managed throughout the harsh winters, and how he fed himself and old man Masahiro for a while. But he soon found the art of catching grown men was indescribably different than bagging a cautious doe or a small snow rabbit, because the snares needed for those were small and delicate. It was like asking him to snag a raging bear, which called for a much sturdier assortment of traps.  
Such was his luck. And he thought he had found something the others could see he was good at. He sighed and sat down together with the class for lunch while listening to the teacher talk about food rations and how much was necessary to carry in your pack on missions.  
Studying in fighting styles came afterward. Many clans had specialized techniques that made them excel in either close, mid, or long-range combat, and as the teacher explained, knowing the fighting style of your comrades and using their strengths in strategies greatly increases the overall efficiency of your team.  
Echiko already knew he was a mid to long-range type. Though with his Clan's summons he could do all from long-range attacks to close combat and still maintain an impenetrable defense due to dragons' hard scales. Well... that is at least if he could summon anything larger than himself...  
He stayed in the background during that period, watching the teacher's demonstration with a few prominent clan heirs who had extremely obvious stances and fighting styles, like for example the Hyuuga Clan of whom were famous for their Gentle Fist techniques that use defense as an offense, or the Nara Clan who were more so mid-range combat type in using their Shadow techniques.  
The red-haired girl from his team was asked to demonstrate a Nara technique. The symbol on her skirt must be the symbol of the Nara Clan, then, Echiko thought. The Hyuuga boy was easy to spot in the group because of his pale white eyes resulting of their dojutsu, or eye technique unique to their clan named the Byakugan. There were also kids who were Uchiha in his class too, just like that boy Obito, but none of them seemed to be able to use their dojutsu that was called the Sharingan.  
Echiko hadn't seen any of these dojutsu before, so he had no idea how it worked or what they looked like. But it was interesting to learn. It was just like his Clan's Summons, where they all had special techniques that can only be used by their Clan.  
The teacher looked at his watch. "We have some time left. Let's talk about a few scenarios where you're facing up against a hard opponent and you need to somehow find out what your enemy is thinking. How can you predict his plan of attack? Is he going to come at your from the left or right? What kind of fighting style does he have? Perhaps you can get in close if he's a long-ranged fighter..."

It was later that afternoon that Echiko wandered around the market streets, too stressed to go back to Kimi's house and study or go to the library. Most of the people he passed hardly noticed him at all as he kept his head down, chewing on his thoughts. That is, until he bumped into someone.  
"Umph!" Echiko looked up, an apology written all over his face when suddenly he recognized the young man he had run into. "...Hijame-san?"  
"Well if it isn't Echiko-kun," Hijame scratched his head. "Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going."  
"Eh?" From Echiko's experience in traveling with Hijame, he certainly thought he couldn't be caught off-guard or distracted. He was always focused, even when he was exhausted, and nothing could break his concentration.  
"How have you been holding up?" the man asked, drawing him over to a bench and out of the middle of pedestrian traffic.  
_I'd ask you the same_, Echiko thought to himself. "...Alright. I started at the Academy last week."  
"Oh yeah, that's right. How's that going for you?"  
"Well enough..."  
"Hm. I was sent on another mission and didn't get back til yesterday." He rested his chin in his palms. "Is Kimi-chan doing alright, and Senpai?"  
"Yes... they're well. Are you coming over for supper?"  
"Ah... not tonight. Perhaps tomorrow."  
"Are... you alright?"  
Hijame blinked at him. "Oh. Yes, I'm fine. Just... tired." He moved to change the subject. "Have you had any problems training with your leg?"  
Echiko gazed at the crowds of people walking to and fro throughout the market. "I... I don't know if I can do this, Hijame-san." The young man waited patiently for him to continue. "I can't maintain my balance during spars," Echiko said. "...This – thing, throws me off and I can't control my chakra through it to help. I can't even climb a tree with this."  
Hijame nodded, relaxing his position to lean against the back of the bench. "I was talking about it with Daisuke-san before I left. It is possible that we might be able to make you a new replacement with chakra-conducting metal. It will just take a while. Do you think you can hold out until then?"  
But Echiko stared at him. "You mean... there's metal you can conduct chakra into?"  
"Yes, there is," he acknowledged. "It is used to make certain types of weapons and shinobi tools. Actually my very own wakazishi are made from that metal. I will have to show you how it works sometime."  
Echiko didn't know what to say. It almost sounded too good to be true. "There... is someone who can make this?"  
"Daisuke-san and I will figure it out, but in the meantime you should practice what you can. You already know a lot more than most kids your age, and if you can master the basics with your old leg, then how much better will you be when it's replaced with one made from chakra-conducting metal?" He tapped Echiko's head. "Remember, your greatest strength is here. I know you can work through any difficulty you come to face with, you just have to be confident in your own skills. Though, Senpai can tell you I was extremely arrogant in my abilities when I was your age, so you don't want to go too far."  
"Yeah..." Echiko was glad for Hijame's confidence in him, but he didn't feel like he deserved it. He didn't want to let him down. "I'm just... so weak."  
"You know the saying 'All brawn and no brain?' Well you may be 'All brain and no brawn,' but it's the smart people who keep the strong guys alive."  
_Thanks for the comfort_, Echiko laughed inwardly. But maybe he was right. Maybe he's been focusing too much on what he isn't when he should be improving what he already is able to do. It was the same thing Daisuke said that morning.  
"Hey, I think someone is looking for you," Hijame said suddenly. Echiko followed his raised hand pointing to the other end of the street, where he glimpsed a black-haired boy with enormous goggles on his face squeezing through the crowd, bursting out with a huff when he caught sight of the two of them on the bench.  
"Ah! Echiko! I was wondering where you went," Obito breathed. "I thought I saw you a couple streets back but then I got lost. Oh, Hijame-san! You're here too!"  
"Hey Obito," the young man waved casually.  
"Why were you looking for me?..." Echiko wondered.  
"To hang out, of course! I promised we would last week, and Sensei said I could bring you over to our training area for a while, since that moron Kakashi isn't hogging it all today. When Sensei said you were a fire-affinity too I couldn't wait to do some training together! Are you busy right now?"  
"Oh, ah... no." Echiko hesitated. He never really understood why this boy would go out of his way to hang out with him. Was this what it was like to have a friend? He added sheepishly, "Yeah... that sounds like fun."  
"Cool! C'mon!" He grabbed Echiko's wrist. "I'll show you where it is!"  
Suddenly pulled forward, Echiko barely managed to toss Hijame a farewell before he was dragged off into the crowd.  
"So-so where is this training ground?" Echiko asked loudly over the din of the crowds as they ducked their way through the streets, winding throughout the district.  
"Our's is actually over by the south-west wall, right up next to it. We have lots of privacy over there, not to mention enormous trees," Obito explained excitedly. "Kakashi and I spar every day, and we take turns sparring Rin though we try to be careful, you know, 'cause she's a girl." He bounced over a vendor's cart and brought Echiko through an alleyway. "Shortcut! Oh, anyway, and sometimes we go three-against-one with our Sensei! It's pretty fun, though Kakashi likes to show off and its so annoying."  
"Ah," though Echiko couldn't say much else as apparently Obito liked running and talking everywhere he went.  
In five minutes Echiko could see the walls looming over them, the miniature forms of shinobi on guard watching vigilantly from atop its heavy stone ramparts. The trees rose high forming a ridge around the walls like a second barrier of protection against invaders, their dense boughs the perfect place to ambush or defend from.  
They were walking now, as they had left the crowds and market streets far behind, and the road was clear as the mid-afternoon sun beat down upon their heads. There was a tall fence with a gate that surrounded a large area, disappearing between the woods, with a sign that labeled it as "Training Grounds #32."  
Obito opened the gate, allowing Echiko to enter. "Number 32, yep. We have free reign to use this place, isn't that cool? When you're a genin you'll get to have your own training ground too."  
He led Echiko down the well trodden path into the trees only to end up in a clearing in the middle of the arena where several training instruments were scattered about, as well as large holes and scorched patches of grass sticking out all over the place as if someone had been practicing how to make something explode.  
Farther from the wall was a knoll where a stream trickled down into the arena, and then he noticed the two figures crouched there, the smaller one in the water and the tall one with flashy yellow hair on the bank of the stream.  
"Sensei! Sensei!" Obito trotted over to them, so Echiko followed, seeing his Sensei for the first time since he had met the three companions.  
The man was a lot younger than Echiko expected him to be. Maybe in his mid-twenties, he had a genuine smile and sparkling blue eyes, so very contrary to the darker hair and brown eyes of most of the other shinobi in the village, not to mention his striking yellow hair. He looked to be instructing Rin in channeling her chakra through water before Obito burst upon them.  
"Sensei! This is Echiko," he introduced loudly to his teacher, pulling Echiko by the shoulder so he stood in front of them. "And Echiko, this is Minato-sensei."  
"Oh, hello there Echiko-kun," the man laughed lightly, his voice uncommonly soft. He held out a large palm and shook his hand. "Obito has told me a lot about you. It seems you two get along very well!"  
"Nice to... meet you," Echiko replied, caught off guard by his casual form.  
"Konoha is blessed to have the Nakayama heir within her walls," Minato added. "I heard about what happened. Are you doing okay?"  
"Yeah..."  
"Well feel free to come here anytime you want. We've been on mission a lot lately so the grounds haven't been utilized as much as it used to. Oh-uh, Obito – Rin is practicing her chakra control, please don't bother her," he said, noticing Obito was asking her a bunch of questions while she sat in the stream, though she had a pleasant smile on her face. She seemed to always be smiling to Echiko, even when she was hard at work.  
"Are you two going to spar?" Minato asked. Obito nodded when he rejoined them. "Yeah, and I was wondering if I could borrow your bells."  
The teacher searched his back pocket and handed him two small, silver bells tied together with a string. "Don't lose them."  
"I won't!" He began trotting down the knoll. "C'mon, Echiko!"  
Echiko ventured back down the hill, careful not to go too fast knowing he'd slip with his metal foot-piece, and stopped where Obito held up the bells in the middle of the assortment of training dummies. "So we'll play a game Sensei did with us when we became genin," Obito explained. "It's really fun and simple too. But it's not easy. You have to try to get one of these bells off me, and in order to do that you have to come at me like you mean it. No rules so you can use jutsu and whatever else you've got on you. Though I'd prefer no explosive tags. Sound cool?" He handed him a leather pouch that was attached to his belt, grinning. "I have two, so you can borrow this."  
Echiko felt the pouch in his hands, opening it to examine the contents. Inside he found a few kunai, a handful of shuriken, wire, tags, even some tetsubishi or spikes, and a small medical kit organized neatly.  
"Alright," Echiko said at length, strapping the pouch to his own belt behind his left elbow where he could reach for it easily. Obito dropped the bells into his back pocket.  
"Okay when I say start... Sta-!"  
"What are you _doing_?"  
Obito glared at the voice that interrupted him. "Go away, Kakashi!"  
Echiko swung around to see the white-haired boy siting on a boulder a stone's throw away by the knoll. "You're doing the bell test with him? Shouldn't you be training, idiot?"  
"This is training! If you don't like it you can go somewhere else."  
"Actually I have a better idea. Since the two of you are practically at the same level, it'd be more of a challenge if you handed me the bells."  
"Like I would do that! You always think you're better than me, but you're not!" Obito huffed, turning, but Kakashi was much faster, seeming to appear directly behind his teammate in half a second.  
"Well then prove it by getting the bells from me." He raised his hand, jingling the bells in Obito's face that was scrunched up with emotion. Echiko watched, impressed with Kakashi's speed, though he felt the same as Obito.  
"Hey... Obito." Echiko walked forward, getting their attention. "Why don't we do it Kakashi's way? It will be... two against one. I'm not very strong, but... I bet we can work together and get those bells." By the time Echiko finished Obito was grinning again.  
"Aright! You're on, Kakashi! We'll show you the power of teamwork!" He jumped back, readying his stance.  
Echiko breathed. This will be hard, but, he had an idea on how this might work. So far he knew nothing of either boys' strengths or weaknesses, however, Obito has been sparring with Kakashi since forever so Echiko figured he'd follow his lead and support from the side. That, and watch carefully.  
As soon as Kakashi gave the signal, Obito rushed forward in an attempt to keep his teammate out in the open, assaulting him with a series of kicks and punches.  
Kakashi was fast, that was a given. He also doesn't hesitate, while though Obito acts tough he hesitates before he deals any real damage, leaving an opening for his opponent to counterattack. However against Kakashi he was just too slow. Kakashi swept aside his hits and flipped over his head, pressing a palm to the back of his head and spine, slamming him face down into the ground. He abruptly ducked, narrowly missing a kunai thrown in his direction from Echiko, and rolled to his feet now aware of both of his opponents.  
Echiko didn't pause, sending another kunai mixed with two shuriken at him as Obito quickly sat up with a determined frown, seeing Kakashi catch the shuriken and deflect the kunai, bouncing it off course to his left.  
"C'mon you two, this is pathetic. At this rate you'll never get the bells from me."  
"Just you wait!" Obito was on his feet, about ready to charge again when Echiko rushed to his side and grabbed his sleeve.  
"Charging won't help," Echiko quietly tried to say. "We need to corner him between us and use jutsu to distract him."  
"Ok!" Obito hopped to his left, readying himself to create hand seals. As Echiko predicted, Kakashi flashed forward to get close to Obito to prevent him from completing his set. But Echiko had already set up his next attack.  
"Fire Flare Jutsu!" A small reflection of light hinted Kakashi to the wire between him and Obito, and he skid to a stop as a thin stream of fire swept down the wire and flared up into his face. He moved back but there was a heated wire behind him as well.  
Obito had finished his seals. "Great Fireball Jutsu!" A huge ball of fire broke through the strip of flames and it looked as if Kakashi was engulfed in it. Until he disappeared into a puff of smoke.  
"Darn it! A clone!" Obito noticed the wires and saw they were attached to the kunai Echiko had thrown earlier. "I never thought of setting up a trap with heating wires. That was a good idea!"  
The wires, of course, were ruined now. But that didn't matter. "...How can we find Kakashi?" Echiko didn't like standing in the open while their opponent was hiding somewhere in the grove of trees, watching. Obito just placed his hands on his hips.  
"He's good at stealth and has probably rigged the trees with traps. If we separate it will be easier for him to take us down one by one, but if we don't it will be harder to find him," Obito formulated thoughtfully. Echiko was surprised. This is the first time he's said something decently smart since he met him. As long as he's not distracted by Kakashi's taunts, they should be able to find a way to sniff him out...  
That's it!  
"I'll go in first and you try to keep track of me," Obito was whispering. "If I get caught in a trap, hide. Kakashi will most likely be close by and will try to capture both of us. Just watch out for his clones." He darted into the woods, and Echiko waited a second before he slipped in after him, ducking under a bush and quickly biting his finger. A bubble of blood formed and he completed a set of hand seals, swiping the blood on his right palm and softly planting his hand to the earth with his concentrated chakra. The smoke dissipated, revealing a snake-like dragon the size of a cat, its split tongue hissing as it wrapped its flexible body around Echiko's arm and seemed to lick the blood on his hand.  
This type of dragon had an extraordinary sense of smell and could track almost anything if given a slight whiff of its target's scent. In his hand was a strand of Kakashi's white hair, taken off of the first kunai he had thrown that flew past the boy's head. The dragon's thin tongue wrapped around the hair and its head snapped up. _It got the scent_. Echiko moved his arm to the pouch Obito had given him, allowing the dragon to familiarize itself with his scent as well. He needed to know where both of them are.  
The dragon slid from his arm and shot into the underbrush, Echiko slowly crawling behind. Because of his connection with the dragons, he could always sense where his summons were within a certain distance. He breathed. Attune to his surroundings like he did back in the forests by the rice village. See everything. Blend in with the long shadows cast by the rustling leaves. Sunlight was fading early because it was winter, and the increasing darkness aided him.  
The snake dragon returned to his hand, its tongue on his palm the only way it could communicate. He immediately became aware of Obito's presence about thirty yards away, and there were three Kakashi's in the vicinity. One was right above Obito, one maybe ten yards to his right, and the other uncomfortably close to himself just a stone's throw away in the branches of a particularly twisted tree. He needed to eliminate that one first before he could aid his comrade.  
A kunai and a paralyzing tag. The target had not moved, and he gauged his trajectory and wind resistance before thrusting the weapon over his head. It lodged into the wood at the target's feet, sending an electrical current through the air and zapping him. He disappeared.  
"A clone," Echiko whispered to himself and picked himself up. He was glad he learned about clones in his first week at the Academy, having not been familiar with that technique as it wasn't something his father taught him. But apparently when a clone is attacked and disappears, the main body receives all the knowledge the clone collected, including its position and from where and how it was attacked if the clone saw it. The basic clones were just illusions, but the clones Kakashi could make were real and therefore were all the more deadly. So Echiko's place was compromised, and he moved quickly to avoid detection.  
There was also the Replacement Jutsu, which Kakashi could have used instead of a clone in the first encounter to replace himself with a piece of wood or some other object. But since he used clones, it meant he already prepared his strategy before Obito first attacked him. He was extremely smart.  
Now that Obito's signature was closer he could hear the boy yelling. "Damn it, Kakashi! Let me out of this! Come and fight me, you coward!" Did he get himself caught in a trap already? Or did he do it on purpose to allow Echiko to sneak in undetected? Even if it wasn't intentional, the noise he was making covered the noise of his approach. He closed in, the dragon on his shoulder as he determined the position of the two remaining Kakashi's.  
The one above Obito had to be a decoy, as the other one was nowhere to be seen. That meant he knew Echiko was coming, and probably had a way to find out where he was. He figured as much, so as he had made his way through the trees he set up his own little traps using the contents of the pouch Obito had so graciously lent him.  
Just as he was calculating his next move, the trap closest to him sprung and his dragon hissed a warning. He raised a kunai and blocked two kunai aimed at his head from the foliage above him, and another one cracked into the wood of the trunk behind him. That was a distraction as the boy himself jumped to land atop him, only Echiko rolled out of the way just in time. The snake dragon expanded its slender wings and latched onto Kakashi's masked face, squalling and hissing. He staggered back, trying to pull it off but only managed to rip his mask in doing so. The dragon held on.  
There was a thud behind them, and Obito scrambled into the picture still untangling the rope around his body, and he stopped as he witnessed Kakashi struggling with a lizard attached to his head.  
"Haha! Look at you!" He mocked, only to be hit on the head by the other Kakashi he hadn't noticed.  
"You're such an idiot," Kakashi said, rolling his eyes as he dismissed the clone still trying to pry off the dragon to no avail. The dragon hit the ground and slithered into the brush.  
"Hey, Echiko, I've got your ally as a hostage," he called out, holding onto Obito like glue. "Forfeit and I'll let him go."  
"No way would he forfeit!" Obito exclaimed, pulling on Kakashi's unwavering grip.  
"Do you want to die?" he replied, a kunai dangerously close to his throat, voice cold. Obito gulped. But suddenly Echiko emerged from the trees, arms crossed.  
"Actually... I was going to ask you to forfeit," he said calmly, no hint of humor in his expression. He was dead serious.  
"Why would I do so?" Kakashi asked cautiously. He knew he still had both bells, and he could sense nothing else beside the small boy standing in the open. That and the winged lizard atop his shoulder. "I see you used your dragon summons, very clever."  
"What? Dragon summons?" Obito looked wide-eyed at the creature. "That lizard's a dragon!? Why didn't you tell me he could summon dragons, Kakashi?"  
"Stupid," was all Kakashi said, focused on his remaining opponent.  
Echiko made himself appear relaxed, though really he was on edge, waiting. Kakashi had doubled his awareness but both his hands were occupied with Obito, so he still had a chance. Just... a little longer!  
The cold edge of a blade pricked the skin of his neck, and he became aware of its presence one millisecond too late. He had missed a clone.  
His summon burst into smoke. "You're caught, Echiko," Kakashi smirked. "I guess I win."  
"What?" Obito whined.  
But Echiko wasn't quite finished. He had one more thing up his sleeve. His feet shot back to trip the clone, allowing the knife to graze his neck before he grasped the clone's arm and twisted it behind him with a sound snap. It was enough of a distraction, he thought.  
The real Kakashi reflexively reached for his back pocket and pushed Obito forward, glancing abruptly toward the sky to see a camouflaged form cross the distance between them, bells singing in its claws. Echiko had managed to snatch the bells.  
Kakashi's clone dissipated and he straightened his back. "You were able to summon two dragons at once."  
"I'm still surprised you can summon dragons at all!" Obito added, a bit wounded. "I thought they were just myth. Kakashi, you should've told me-"  
"Sensei explained it to me. It's a unique summon only the Nakayama Clan are entitled to." He looked at Echiko. "I'm impressed. You did well considering you're only an Academy Student. Much better than bird-brain over here."  
"Hey!"  
Echiko laughed uncertainly and dismissed the camouflage dragon. "Not really..." But he was glad. He learned a lot just from this challenge alone and there was much training he still had left to do to reach their level. Kakashi was amazing, and Obito could be skilled when he wanted to be. Plus he had compassion, and put his comrades above himself. He liked that about Obito.  
"Gah I'm starving!" Obito said suddenly. "The sun's almost down. Who wants to bet Minato-sensei will treat us to ramen tonight?"  
"Please not ramen again..." Kakashi sighed.  
"Woo! Let's go!" He bolted back into the clearing and up the knoll as if all his energy had returned, while Kakashi stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked. He stopped when Echiko didn't move.  
"You know you don't have to ask to join us," he said. "Actually Sensei might kill me if I don't drag you along so he can feed you. That's just how Sensei is. So are you coming or not?"  
Echiko blinked at him, a strange feeling warming his bones. "Oh... I guess. Thanks..."  
"By the way, you're still bleeding."  
...

_ I panted at the top of the steep slope, searching the sun-bleached rocks with squinted eyes. "Emi? Emiko, where'd you go?"_  
_ "Come check this out, Echi!" came a girly voice from behind a boulder. I followed it to find my twin knee-deep in a puddle of water, pulling up glistening stones from underneath the boulder where the water seemed to drain under._  
_ "Emi... we shouldn't be up here," I said, looking at the mid-morning sun almost completely crowded out by dense storm clouds, and a strong gale almost pushed me over. "It's going to rain."_  
_ "I know, just gimme a second," she replied, climbing up the boulder and sliding off the other side. She thrust her hand in the small hole at its base on that side, feeling around with her fingers. "I saw something in here."_  
_ A crack of thunder startled me, and I was growing nervous. "You're going to get us in trouble again," I complained._  
_ "Don't worry, Echi, we're fine!" She suddenly jerked backwards. "Ow! That rock was sharp, yeah." She fished in there again, sticking her tongue out in concentration. "Almost... got it!" She pulled out her arm and opened her fist, smiling. "Lookie what I found, Echi!"_  
_ I peered into her hand. "It's a shuriken."_  
_ "Yeah, an __**old**__ shuriken! Its gotta be from the First Shinobi War!" She hopped up, barely missing my head with hers, her short black braid bobbing up and down and then stopped short. "Hey, its sprinkling!"_  
_ I looked to the dark sky, feeling a tingling sensation on my skin. "Yes... we better go."_  
_ "Aw but we only just got here," she whined. "I haven't explored this place yet, yeah?"_  
_ "Mother expects us to be home right now, Emiko," I tried forcefully. "It is dangerous up here when it's wet."_  
_ She sighed, giving me puppy-dog eyes, but I avoided her gaze and grabbed hold of her arm, pulling her with me back down the mountain path that we climbed earlier in the morning. Because it was a rest day Father didn't make me train, so Emiko wanted to go explore. But the clouds rolled in so suddenly I didn't realize it'd be pouring rain by the time we made it to the house and slid open the door, tumbling inside, completely soaked._  
_ "Haha! That was fun!" Emiko laughed, clinging to me so she wouldn't fall as she threw off her soggy shoes. We both froze when Mother's voice echoed through the entryway._  
_ "Goodness, you two! How many times have I told you not to play outside when it rains?" She stood in the doorway frowning, before snatching our shirt collars and pulling us into the bedroom to get us changed into dry clothes._  
_ "Look what I found, Mother!" my twin exclaimed, holding out her discovery as Mother dried our hair with a towel. "Think it's from the First Shinobi War?"_  
_ Mother paused and looked at the rusty shuriken, shaking her head. "I don't think so, love. Though you can ask your Father."_  
_ "Does Father know everything?" Emiko pondered._  
_ "Your Father knows a lot of things," Mother said, "But he can't know everything. That's what books are for." She got Emiko to giggle and turned to me, making sure I had my clean yukata on right. "Wash your hands and come help me set the table now, you two," she added after re-tying the tuft of hair on the right side of my face with a colourful band and kissing my cheek. "I love you both very much."_


	5. Chapter 5

Echiko checked his backpack for the hundredth time, making sure he had everything he was required to bring. It was a bright and sunny morning outside the window, the bamboo screen glowing as the light tried to invade into his bedroom as he sat atop his futon, fiddling with the wire necklace he now wore around his neck.  
Today was a field day for his Academy class. The teacher brought it up a week ahead and kept reminding everyone to get their parents to sign the permission papers to let them go along. Some kids, like the Hyuuga and Uchiha, weren't allowed to go because their clans would not be able to keep a constant watch on them, and it risked too much to have them outside the walls. It was because their dojutsu, or eye techniques, could very easily be stolen by simply gouging out their eyes. He shuddered.  
Personally he was glad to get out of the village for the first time since he arrived, Daisuke graciously signing his permission slip as his guardian. He had come to like Konohagakure, but the place felt so sheltered he was beginning to feel irritated with it and he was having dreams again. Dreams of home. Whenever he had dreams of home he became depressed.  
He shook his head. Okay! He looked at his bag, knowing in the back of his mind he's been ready for the past half hour, but he still had time before they were required to meet at the Main Gate. He shouldered his backpack and walked into the kitchen, noticing his sister resting in a chair with an apron tied around her swollen belly, her long blue hair loose and draped across the back of the chair.  
She's been feeling more and more tired lately. Echiko could see it in the way she walked and talked, though she tried to hide it. Her cheeks were pink, eyelids fluttering as if she were dreaming.  
Echiko put a cool hand to her forehead, thankful she didn't seem to have a fever. He remembered when his twin Emiko had a fever, and he would never forget it. Kimi was there still with them at that time. He wondered if she remembered it too.  
Kimi's eyes opened slightly, and then she moaned as she straightened herself in the chair. "Ohh... are you heading out, Echiko-kun? Do you need a lunch?"  
"No, I'm fine," he responded, hoping she'd be okay while he was gone. She had to be okay.  
"Oh right." She rubbed her fingers against her temples, wincing. "...Do you have everything you need?"  
"Yeah..."  
"How long was it you said that you'll be gone?"  
"Three days."  
"Well then," she said, wrapping him up in a hug, "Be careful, okay little brother? I'm very proud of you. Have fun."  
"I will," he muffled in her shoulder before she let him go, and he paused. "Do you have a headache?"  
"Hn? Oh... well, yes," but she smiled at him. "I'll be fine, Echiko-kun. Go on."  
"Mother always gave us willow root tea," he said anyway, as he slid open the door.  
"Hm. I remember that. I'll have to make some," she answered distractedly. He sighed and shut the door behind him, glancing at the bare plum tree in the front yard as he trotted down the street, heading for the Gate.  
From what he knew there were actually three entrances into the Village – the East, South (also known as the Main), and West Gates, the North being where the enormous cliff with the faces on it cut off that side. Though he saw there were stairs that led all the way to the top of the cliff. Maybe he'd check it out sometime.  
A few students were early, waiting at the South Gate contentedly, and he spotted the teacher standing beside the guardhouse. The two very same shinobi guards as he had met when he arrived were on post, and they caught sight of him as he walked across the mostly deserted road.  
"Hello there," the spiky-haired one waved. "You're the boy who was with Hijame-san that time, right? How are things going?"  
Echiko pulled out his permission slip and handed it to his teacher. "Fine..."  
"Excellent, Echiko-kun. Thank you," the teacher said after examining the paper and determining Daisuke's signature, peering at his watch. "It'll be about twenty minutes before everyone gets here, so if you've forgotten anything, now's the time to fetch it."  
Echiko moved and sat down by the tall pole next to the guardhouse, his bag between his knees, and glanced about. The Gate seemed to tower high into the sky, its walls a formidable barrier yet oddly comforting, as if the brightly painted roof-like canopies stretching the length of the walls and Gate somehow made them appear friendly. The blue sky and chirping birds only added to its warmth, though a cool winter wind brought it back to the reality of it being only hard, cold stone.  
The great doors of the Gate were wide open as before, and he wondered if they ever closed them. But he could see the thick trunks of the trees beyond that brought him such awe when he first walked this path. Hijame said they were special trees, created by the First Hokage himself, and if cut down they would grow completely back in a day as if nothing had happened. He almost wanted to cut one down just to test that myth.  
An annoying voice cut through his thoughts like cold steel. "Hey, if it isn't spy boy."  
Shigeru and his gang of friends walked up to him, ugly backpacks tossed over their shoulders reminding him they were going to be on the trip as well, and he sighed inwardly.  
"Just want to let you know, if you're struggling to keep up on this trip, you can always ask us for help," he smirked, and his friends began to laugh.  
Echiko didn't say anything, causing Shigeru to crack up even more. "Aw, you don't have to be shy about it. It's just you're such a weakling, we were afraid you might not survive the night out there on your own!" Their laughter died down and he waved in Echiko's face. "Well, if you turn up missing, rest assured we'll look for you. After all, I still believe you're a spy."  
They sauntered off to give their permission slips to the teacher, leaving Echiko in much desired peace. Those boys had no idea what it was like to survive. This little field trip won't be anything compared to the hell he lived in those months after the incident. There were many things that happened during that time that he hasn't told a soul about, nor was he going to. Though if they wanted a campfire horror story he sure had a few he could tell that would give them nightmares that night, knowing full well how many sleepless nights he endured to keep his nightmares at bay.  
"...Echiko-kun?"  
He looked up, startled by the feminine voice of the young girl standing a few feet away, smiling at him. He vaguely recognized her as someone from his class, but he couldn't remember anything about her. Though she had beautiful purple eyes, and the strangest, wavy white hair that fell all the way past her hips even in a ponytail as it was now. She held her bag in front of her, twirling one of its strings with a slender finger as she faced down at him.  
"My name's Nya," she introduced herself. "I... just was thinking-well, you see," she faltered suddenly, "I'm not very good at this kind of thing, and I thought... well you seem to know a lot about the outdoors, and-" she bonked her head with a fist as she tried to get her words out, "I was wondering if you could help me a little? I know it's a lot to ask... Heh, I'm just kinda freaking out because this is the first time I've ever gone on a survival field trip like this." She breathed, glancing at Echiko's wide eyes hopefully.  
Echiko had no idea what to say. He never dreamed anyone would ask him of all people for help, let alone a girl. "Well, Nya..." He scratched the back of his head, tone quiet. "Aren't you worried... I might let you down?..."  
"Of course not," she said seriously. "You're always getting A's in class, and you're very brave to stand up to Shigeru even though he bullies you."  
"...I don't really... 'stand up' to him," Echiko responded. More like tolerate, or ignore.  
"Yeah, well, my cousin told me how skilled you are, so I believe him."  
"Your cousin?"  
"Uh huh," she sat down beside him with her back to the pole. "Hatake Kakashi. Hard to believe, I know. My mother and his father are actually cousins, but we call each other cousin anyway."  
"Kakashi?" Echiko wondered, the obvious resemblance being their odd white hair, but he hadn't told him about having a younger cousin in his class. Perhaps he thought Echiko already knew about it. "... I see."  
"I don't get to see him that often anymore... I hope he's doing okay." She didn't say anything for a few moments as more kids started to gather at the entrance to the Gate. "So the teacher said yesterday it was okay to help each other out... most of the girls were complaining because they didn't want to do it alone. Well, except for Shioku. She's so independent. I wish I could be like her... Anyway, I learn fast, so if we're part of the same team will you help me?" She was smiling again, her smile unexpectedly reminding him of his twin sister. _Why?... She's so different, yet..._  
"I-I guess..." Echiko complied, uncertain. His memories invaded his mind now even when he wasn't trying to think about them. He knew he still had to accept it, accept that his twin sister was dead. But he couldn't... he couldn't forgive it yet. He couldn't forgive himself yet. So they weighed down on him like a half-ton weight, and he towed it wherever he went. He was stuck with it for now.  
"Hey, c'mon. It looks like Sensei is gathering everyone up." Nya stuck out her hand and he froze, not knowing how to take her kind gesture. But she just grabbed his motionless hand and pulled him up, still smiling, as she dragged him over to the forming group just as the teacher started calling out, making sure no one supposed to come was missing.  
The teacher led the students through the Gate, walking down the road a ways and then turning into the forest, occasionally warning them not to stray from the group. Nya kept close to Echiko toward the back of the line as they twisted around trees and made their way up and down the hills and through the foliage, until they came to a clearing and sat down.  
"For three days we will test your survival skills out here in the woods," the teacher began, setting down his own backpack. "This area will be designated as the main camp, and we'll start with learning how to properly pitch the tent in your packs. But before we do so we need to cover some rules. Can anyone tell me what kind of rules you might be expected to follow during an excursion like this?"  
A few raised their hands, and one boy spoke out, "Like 'a shinobi must follow their commander's instructions?'"  
"Very good, yes. Can you tell me what that rule is from?"  
"The... Shinobi Rulebook."  
"Correct. I assume all of you have studied the Rulebook, because this is your first field mission and you must treat it with all the gravity of a real mission. Am I understood?"  
"Yes, Sensei," the students murmured. He continued.  
"The details of the mission are such: During the next three days, you will follow my instructions and will be doing everything from building campfires to foraging wild plants, hunting, swimming, stealth training, scouting, you name it. You have no food in your packs, only the basics of what you'd bring on field missions when you become genin. You were also instructed to bring a tool pouch which we will discuss on it's proper uses as we go along. Now how about we get started..."  
Echiko slowly stood as the rest of the students jumped up and started pulling out their tents, claiming spots all around the clearing and a couple fighting over them. When that got out of hand, the teacher determined the girls got the side closest to the wall and the boys had the outside perimeter. Echiko found a nook next to the trunk of one of the enormous trees at the edge of the campsite, and set out the standard issue, thin canvas tent to examine it. It looked easy enough, compared to the thick animal skin tents they made at the rice village for cold weather. Those were heavy and you had to be careful how you added the layers, because if it snows the added weight could break your supports and dump the whole tent on top of you.  
He glanced at the short wooden poles and back at the tent fabric. It looked to be a simple triangular design, but it was small so it would only fit the length of one person using their bag as a pillow. From the picture in his head he tied the tent to the poles, and tightening it, he staked it to the ground and glanced back up again. It looked right. He slid underneath and set his bag where his head would be, letting down the fabric on both ends and laying there for a minute. Yeah it was fine, though he wished he had a roll-up futon to make the ground a bit more comfortable.  
He crawled out and threw his unopened sleeping bag inside.  
"Well I see Echiko-kun is already finished. Very nice."  
Echiko turned around, having completely forgot about the teacher showing everyone how to pitch the tents properly. But the man just patted his head and went over to the next boy who was struggling with where his poles were supposed to go. Echiko sighed, relieved. He supposed even the teacher could be flexible when circumstances changed, and that was good. Of course there were some people who couldn't understand the definition of flexible.  
"Hey, spy boy, you're sitting on my spot." Shigeru strolled over as soon as the teacher was out of ear shot, his tent not even out of his backpack yet. Amazingly his two buddies who were usually with him were diligently setting up their tents to Echiko's left a little ways down.  
"Why don't you go set up your tent by your friends," Echiko suggested, not giving Shigeru even a glance. He busied himself with his pack.  
"I can go wherever I want, short-stack," Shigeru pressed, pretending to nonchalantly walk around Echiko and kick one of his poles over. "And I want this spot. So beat it."  
"Sorry, but this spot is already taken." Echiko continued to rummage through his pack, if only to busy his hands. He knew Shigeru was getting irritated by his lack of attention. Honestly he didn't care if the bully tore down the whole tent, it wouldn't be much trouble to put it up again, as long as he had the satisfaction of getting one over Shigeru.  
"Oh you think so, huh?" He heard him say. "So what if this tent wasn't here anymore?" **Bang**. "It's not like you're going to be needing it anyway." **Bang**. "You're probably going to try and make off in the middle of the night, am I right, spy boy?"  
"Who's making off in the middle of the night?" The teacher smiled over Shigeru, who froze as he was just about to deal another kick to the tent. Echiko smirked to himself. The teacher saw a whole lot more than he let on.  
"Why don't you come with me and we'll talk about respecting people's property, Shigeru-kun," the man continued, picking up the boy by his collar and dragging him off. With a sour face Shigeru spat in Echiko's direction, which only dealt him a bruise on his head before they disappeared into the teacher's tent. The teacher's tent was actually quite large, and Echiko figured was also going to be used as his command center among other things.  
"Your tent isn't looking so good," someone stated beside him, bringing him back to the matter at hand. It was Nya.  
"...Yeah." Echiko grabbed one of the fallen poles, glad none of the ties were broken. He pushed the stake back into the earth, and feeling a tug from the other side he realized Nya was helping him. "You don't have to..."  
"What do you mean? I had a whole bunch of help with mine. It's only fair I help someone else," she replied pleasantly, staking her side nice and tight and standing back up. Except for the boot marks on the fabric, the tent looked as good as before. Echiko re-shouldered his backpack and looked around. "Has Sensei said what we're doing next?"  
"I think it was gathering dry wood," Nya said, "He did say we need divide into two-man teams, though. Want to be on my team?"  
"Uh... sure." Echiko blinked at the girl as she walked in front of him to stand by the main tent and wait for the teacher's instructions. Why was she doing this? Did she pity him like all the rest so that's why she goes out of her way to do things with him? He just couldn't understand her motive, though he didn't really feel up to asking her about it.  
In five minutes the groups separated and it looked as though Shigeru was stuck partnered with the teacher himself, which was actually funny to watch, though Echiko wasn't the kind of person who'd outwardly show it. He followed Nya into the woods, gathering dried sticks as he came across them, until he ended up holding all of them as the girl added to the pile in his arms. She rubbed her hands together, thoughtfully. "With this much wood we could make a bonfire!"  
Echiko stared at the pile of twigs. "I wonder..."  
"What?"  
"Well... making any kind of fire is dangerous. It can compromise your position as it can be seen by enemy ninja even a long distance away."  
"Ooh... I didn't think of that," she glanced back. "I wonder if Sensei will broach that."  
"I... don't think it matters here, but... on a real field mission," Echiko added. "This is probably enough."  
"Okay." Nya met his eyes. "I'm glad you're here. I knew you knew a lot about this kind of stuff."  
Echiko didn't say anything, not really sure what he'd say anyway. Inwardly he felt like he knew nothing about survival, but then again before he had no one his age training to be a shinobi to compare himself to. Here... here everyone was different.  
"Oh, what's this?"  
Echiko peered through his armful of wood, seeing Nya pluck a pretty flower and place it in her hair with a laugh. He didn't really understand girls either. Her personality was almost the opposite of her cousin, Kakashi.  
"I think the ten minutes are up," he said, getting her attention again. She hopped up, an apologetic expression on her face as she tried to hide her smile. "Oops." She bounded back the way they came with him trailing after her once again.  
The wood was gathered in one great pile off to the side, and the teacher proceeded to demonstrate how to light a fire in several different ways, and also took someone's branch in his hand making sure everyone looked at it. "This branch is wet, and should only be used if you intend to send out a smoke signal, because that's what happens when you use wet wood. Also when you're on missions in other countries you'll find that some types of wood burn with more smoke than others, so you have to be careful with what wood you chose."  
Echiko was surprised when Nya raised her hand. "Isn't it dangerous to light a fire at all?"  
The teacher set down the piece of wood and nodded. "Actually, yes. Even within our country's borders you shouldn't light a fire unless it is absolutely necessary or you're traveling in a large group. Lighting a fire is like telling the enemy where you are, and in enemy territory it can get you killed. But since this is a training mission we will light a fire for visibility's sake, and for cooking."  
Nya glanced at Echiko with an acknowledging smile.  
"Now that we have a fire going, let's cover foraging," the teacher took a book and a small pouch from his backpack and motioned for everyone to gather close. "There are hundreds of wild plants that grow in these parts that are good to eat, but there's also just as many that are poisonous, so please pay attention as to what I'm about to say. The most basic rule about gathering wild plants is that wherever there is a poisonous plant, a plant that counters its poison grows within a ten yard radius, and there are look-a-like poisonous plants to most edible plants out there. This book," he waved it in front of our faces, "was covered last year in class, however we'll go through it again. The knowledge you have about wild plants native to different countries will help you survive during your ninja career."  
The class was divided into teams again, and Echiko found himself with two students he didn't know well and who completely ignored him as usual, so he focused on the task the teacher gave them. They were each shown an edible plant to find and gather, and also instructions on how to avoid collecting the wrong plant. That seemed simple enough.  
"Um... I don't think that's the right one," Echiko pointed out, noticing the boy on his team pluck a plant along with its roots out of the ground. It was similar to the one in the description they were given, but its stem was red and that didn't seem right.  
"Who asked you?" the boy replied tersely, ignoring him. He stuffed it into his pouch and went to find a different spot to look, leaving Echiko in indecision. What can he do? If he won't listen then its his own fault.  
Echiko checked the leaves of a particular plant, comparing it to his notes before carefully uprooting it and placing it in his bag. As he went along he knew for sure the ones with the red stems weren't the right ones, but as he looked for his teammates they were nowhere to be seen.  
"Where'd they go...?" Echiko frowned, seeing nothing but trees and foliage around him. High in the sky the sun peeked through the treetops, showing it was past noon and when they were supposed to return. Perhaps they were already on their way back. But as he turned he felt an uneasiness prick the back of his mind, like somebody was watching him. He quickened his pace, only to trip over his metal foot-piece and almost faceplant into the ground.  
"Dude, is the new boy alright?"  
Echiko looked up to see another team casually searching for their plants, the boy who spoke staring at him like he was crazy. Did they not feel the strange presence he felt? Maybe he's just overreacting. He picked himself up, suddenly feeling ill. He walked slowly back to camp and retreated into his tent, resting his eyes until all the students returned to camp.

Echiko shot awake, covered in sweat. Inside his tent was dark. His head was swirling, but with some effort he reached for the tent flap past his backpack and pulled it aside. The campfire in the center of the clearing was blazing in contrast to the darkening sky. His eyes widened. It was already evening?  
He placed a hand on his warm forehead. _How could I have slept for that long?_ His skin felt hot and tingling, and he realized this happened once before. Of course. How could he have forgotten?  
His father's words echoed through his mind. "_There are consequences in keeping a summon in our world for a long period of time. Not only does it put a lot of strain on you, the summoner, but also weakens the summon to the point where it has to return to its world on its own and may take time to recover_."  
It has been over a week since he sent Aizen out, much longer than it should have taken knowing how fast the dragon flies. He just hoped his old friend was okay.  
"Are you alright, Echiko-kun?" The teacher was kneeling in front of his tent, a bowl of some sort of stew in his hands.  
"Hn? Oh... I guess," Echiko mumbled.  
"When I found you earlier today you were running a fever so I thought I'd let you rest." He passed him the bowl. "Don't push yourself too hard."  
"I know..." Echiko watched the teacher rejoin the group around the fire where it looked like they boiled many of the plants in a big cauldron that hadn't been there before. He pushed around his spoon, seeing chunks of meat also. He sighed. They probably practiced hunting while he was asleep, and that was one part of the field mission he wanted to do. Oh well. It was only the first day.

The second day had its own adventures.  
Echiko fidgeted uncomfortably. He stood on the bank of the calm river, watching some of the boys climb up a steep hill and jump off into the water yelling war cries as they competed to see who could make the biggest splash. The girls were farther down, wanting to avoid getting completely drenched by the boys, and all around there was a lot of noise. This certainly didn't feel like a field mission anymore.  
"What's the matter, short-stack?" Shigeru and his friends taunted from the middle of the river. "Why don't you join us? Or maybe the answer is... you can't!" He went under only to surface again closer to the bank. "I bet that's it, am I right? You can't swim, can you?"  
Echiko glowered at him and said nothing while the bigger boy pulled himself out and came up to him. "Don't feel bad. I'm sure wherever you came from there wasn't ever any need to learn to swim, right?" Shigeru grinned. "How 'bout I show you how it's done!" He unexpectedly took hold of Echiko's shirt and thrust him forward.  
"Hey-wha-!" He was tossed into the water, and he instinctively held his breath, the colorless liquid encompassing him, cutting him off from the world above. Though he could still hear their muffled laughter. He flailed his arms and legs, managing to resurface before his breath ran out. "Gah!"  
"Hahaha, how's it going, spy boy?" Shigeru called from the bank. His friends floated farther out, the same mocking grin on their faces irritating him. However he could do nothing about it, it taking all he had to keep himself afloat. His replacement leg weighed him down, dragging him under, growing heavier and harder to move as the seconds passed.  
He forced open his eyes. The current was almost visible, shifting the rocks on the riverbed and pulling him farther into the middle of the water where it was deeper. He pushed his arms wildly, the pressure against his lungs choking him until his head bobbed up again at the surface. He coughed, water in his throat. He was tiring quickly.  
"S-stop! Help-help me!" Echiko cried, floundering once more. He couldn't keep himself up for much longer. Where were Shigeru and his buddies? His mind was getting hazy. He heard someone's voice behind him, too muffled by the water for him to tell what it was saying. Where was everyone?  
A pair of arms abruptly grasped him around the waist, forcing him back up above the water and dragging him onto the bank as Echiko gasped for air.  
"Stupid," he heard his rescuer mutter, rolling to his side. It took a few moments for his vision to clear and he was still coughing violently until he recognized the boy beside him. The boy's feral eyes glared at him, two deep red fang marks painted onto his tanned cheeks, his dusty brown hair dripping wet droplets onto his scowling face. "You stupid cripple. What were you doing!?"  
It was the boy who sat next to him most days in class. What was his name...? "Uh..." Echiko wiped his eyes but it didn't help. "Th-they... threw me in..." He glanced around but the bullies were nowhere in sight. It looked as if no one noticed what had happened at all.  
"Figures," the boy responded flatly.  
Echiko was shivering. "Wh-why did you... help me?"  
"Because you were drowning, dummy." He stood up. "Don't go thinking we're friends or anything. I don't want to have to save your sorry ass more than can be helped." He cocked his head back at Echiko. "And you might as well kiss being a ninja goodbye if you can't learn how to swim."  
The boy stalked off and Echiko lowered his damp head. He was right. How can he call himself a ninja if he can't even swim? He stared at his metal foot like he could bore holes through it with his eyes. How can he do this? Without his real leg or that chakra conducting metal Hijame talked about, everything people do normally is a struggle for him. He becomes a burden to his teammates, and a burden to his whole class.  
_ I knew this would happen._ He staggered up, still soaking wet and shivering, and walked back to camp hoping no one would notice him. Of course, it was either no one or everyone.  
"Hey, look at the new boy. He seems exceptionally depressed today."  
"Well he is soaking wet."  
"I heard he can't swim."  
"If he can't swim then why is he wet?"  
"How am I supposed to know? I'm just telling you what I heard."  
"Hey guys, cut him some slack. At least he tried."  
"You're all stupid. He was obviously dunked. Who would purposely go swimming with all their clothes on?"  
Echiko crawled into his tent, away from the staring eyes, away from the voices, and ripped off his wet clothes. He rummaged through his backpack for his spare set, glad at least no one had stolen them too. He was almost expecting it.  
He was changing when his ears caught a commotion outside. It was quiet at first, but it seemed to get louder like all the kids were gathering around the campfire. Did the teacher call everyone together? He hurried, slipping his pant leg over the metal foot-piece and quickly tossing his damp hair with a towel, combing through the slightly tangled ends with his fingers as he crawled out of the tent. He was stopped short when his eyes caught a growing circle of students surrounding something across the clearing.  
"Keep it hemmed in!"  
"What is it?"  
They were shouting at whatever it was, and a few were throwing rocks that were answered with an unsettling screeching sound and a whirl of wind that was undoubtedly familiar to Echiko.  
** Leave me alone, you brats! I'll eat you in your sleep!**  
_Aizen?_ Echiko heart suddenly throbbed in his chest and he rushed over, pushing aside those who were in his way and he cried out, "Stop it!"  
The hands that were raised froze and the students hushed as Echiko rolled in front of the victimized creature and thrust out his arms. "Don't hurt it!" He gasped, and he blinked at their dumbstruck faces.  
**Took you long enough, Master!** Aizen sneezed behind him. **I say we should pummel these guys and teach them a lesson!**  
"You know what that is?" One of them spoke out.  
"Yes... if you'll let me explain-" Echiko began, when Shigeru shoved into view, his face twisted with disgust. "Can't you guys see? He's a spy! That – _creature_ – is what he's using to send information about Konoha to the enemy!"  
His classmates looked from Shigeru to Echiko and back.  
"Wait... what?-No!" Echiko's eyes widened with urgency. "You've got it all wrong!" Echiko was definitely not in an advantageous position right now, and Aizen was just sitting there, probably wanting to see where this was going to go. Why on earth did he show up like this?  
"Don't dig yourself deeper, short-stack. You can't hide it anymore!" Shigeru spat, pointing his finger at his chest. "Do you guys believe me now?"  
The group was in indecision, though obviously Shigeru had his two buddies for support. One picked up a small stone and tossed it up and down in his hand before chucking it at Echiko unexpectedly with a cry of, "Down with the spy!"  
Echiko instinctively braced himself for the impact, horror written all over his face. _They would go so far as to throw rocks at me...?_ A few seconds passed but he felt no impact from the stone. Cautiously, he opened his eyes and noticed the protective wing drawn over his head as Aizen gripped his shoulder with his claws, hissing. **How dare you!...** The dragon flapped its wings, screeching angrily, and was about to let out a giant whirlwind from its mouth when Echiko placed a hand on its neck.  
"No, Aizen," he said softly. He could see the mixed emotions in his classmates' faces, mostly completely astonished by Aizen's speed and protectiveness, let alone the boy who dared to throw a rock at him.  
The dragon calmed down but stayed wrapped around his shoulders, tail flicking, when a commanding voice abruptly joined the commotion.  
"That creature is a summon, if I'm not mistaken." Echiko jerked his head up, seeing the teacher standing over everyone looking like he had seen the whole debacle and was disapproving.  
"Y-yes, sir..."  
Shigeru broke in. "Sensei, he's a spy! He's-"  
"I've heard your accusations before, Shigeru, now I believe Echiko has a right to defend himself."  
Everyone grew quiet again, and Echiko gulped. He hated being the center of attention.  
**Humph, it's not like I have to explain myself,** Aizen huffed. Echiko felt like glaring at him. _You're the one that got us into this mess_, he responded mentally.  
**That's because you weren't answering me! What were you doing, sleeping?**  
Echiko ignored it and met the teacher's eyes. "This is Aizen, my dragon summon."  
"That's a dragon?" One student blurted.  
"I thought dragons were legend..."  
The teacher held up his hand for silence. "Echiko-kun is of the Nakayama Clan," he stated. "They alone have had the rare ability to communicate with and summon dragons long before the word shinobi even existed. Now I hadn't said anything before because this fact is highly confidential, but you all have taken this too far." His tone grew dangerously dark. "I can't believe my own students would throw stones at a comrade! Because of this, all of you will be digging trenches for the rest of the day. Shigeru, Echiko, come with me."  
He immediately walked off to the main tent, and Echiko had no choice but to follow behind a muttering Shigeru as the rest of the students moaned about the digging. It seemed like the teacher was rather mad. It was hard to tell sometimes, though he was frowning deeply when he spoke to them.  
_Aizen, why didn't you return to your world when you were done?_ He thought.  
**Because this is important.**  
_Well it's going to have to wait now..._ He entered the tent for the first time, his gaze drawn to the low table in the middle of the floor where the teacher motioned for them to sit down. He seated himself across from them and there was a bit of silence before he spoke. "You two haven't gotten along well since the first day. I'd like you to settle your differences here and now, am I clear?"  
"That's not possible, Sensei," Shigeru grumbled.  
"Tell me, Shigeru-kun," the teacher replied seriously, "what do you know of Echiko other than what I just explained about his clan?"  
"I-"  
"Do you know why he's here? Did you know his family was killed and his whole village was wiped out, that he's been surviving on his own since then? Tell me what you know about Echiko-kun, Shigeru."  
Echiko had no idea his teacher knew anything about what happened. Did Daisuke or Hijame tell him? Of course they did... They probably thought he needed someone who understood his predicament to watch over him. In that regard Echiko was grateful, but why was he telling it to Shigeru? What would be the purpose- His thought stopped short when he caught the bully's hesitation to answer the teacher's prodding, and he shifted his eyes, seeing Shigeru was staring at the table, his hands balled into fists.  
"I... didn't know," the boy said reluctantly.  
"No, you didn't, but that doesn't mean you can make up facts to support your far-fetched belief that he's a spy." The teacher paused, turning to Echiko and adding, "I'm sorry for not asking your permission first to explain all this, Echiko-kun."  
"N-no, it's fine..." Echiko said.  
"Can you tell me why your summon appeared rather unexpectedly today?"  
"Well..." Echiko shot a look at Aizen. "I sent it home to find something last week... I didn't realize when it came back."  
"Did it find what you were looking for?"  
The dragon rustled on Echiko's shoulder, drawing their attention. **No... I couldn't find the Scroll, Master.**  
"What?" Echiko exclaimed, and then remembering he was the only one who could hear Aizen, "Oh... it said it couldn't find it..." _So I was right?... Aizen, were you able to tell if someone took it? What was so important that you had to fly back?_  
**Geez, one question at a time. I'll tell you, I'll tell you.** It lowered its long neck.** I searched the entire area but I couldn't find a trace of the Contract's scent. Whoever took it wasn't just some bandit. He was skilled enough to remove the seals without setting them off and mask his scent, and from what I can tell it looks like it was stolen only shortly after the place was destroyed.** Smoke blew out of its nostrils.** I was able to trace Master Takahiro's scent, though vaguely.**  
"You were able... to trace Father?" Memories flooded into his mind as he recalled his father's body was never found. What did that mean?  
**I wish you would've summoned me right after it happened while the scents were still fresh, Echiko-sama.**  
_I know, and I'm sorry..._  
**Yes, well, I tracked his scent up the mountain path. All trace of him stopped where that big boulder is by the cliff – you know, that spot where you can look all the way down into the valley and see the whole village?**  
_Yeah._  
**I couldn't find his body, but I did find this...** The dragon alighted onto the table and spat something into Echiko's hand. It only took a moment for Echiko to realize what it was. It was Father's hair tie.  
Ever since he was little he wore one as well, a band tied around a tuft of hair on the right side of his face. It was traditional for the men of the house to wear, only Echiko had lost his own in the incident. He carefully unraveled it, noting its beautiful red, orange, and purple tones that were slightly damp with Aizen's saliva but that didn't really matter. His eye caught something rolled up with the fabric.  
"Is that a miniature scroll?"  
Echiko had almost forgot about the others in the room. The teacher was bent over the table, patiently watching him, and Shigeru glancing his way every once in a while out of curiosity. What was hidden in the band did indeed look like a tiny scroll, maybe half the size of his pinky finger, and he pulled it out and set it in front of everyone. _Aizen, do you know what this is?_  
**No idea.**  
"How do you read it?..." Echiko wondered.  
"Oh, the scroll isn't actually that size," his teacher commented. "You have to preform a certain set of hand seals in order to activate it and return it to its original shape. It's a trick we use to prevent information from getting into the hands of the enemy. Though I'm afraid I can't help you with that. You will have to figure out what sequence was used on your own, Echiko-kun."  
Figure out the sequence on his own... what combination of seals would his father have used? What was even inside this little scroll? A message, or a secret code?  
The man stood up, motioning to the both of them. "Why don't you take it home with you after the field trip is over and work on it then, alright? Can you two work together now? I have a special assignment I'd like the both of you to do."  
"Oh... yeah," Echiko responded distractedly.  
"Seal of Reconciliation, first."  
Shigeru huffed, but he stuck out his hand like on the first day when they sparred, and Echiko joined his two fingers with his in a passive handshake.


	6. Chapter 6

"The mission is simple. You are to disguise yourselves as enemy ninja and kidnap one of the students, bringing him or her to a camp I've already set up for you a few miles south-east."  
"Are you serious?" Shigeru gaped, and Echiko was speechless.  
"This will be a test for both you and the class." The teacher smiled, which only disconcerted them further. "The other students' objective will be to track you and find your camp to rescue their comrade before the end of tomorrow, while you hinder their progress with the skills you've already learned."  
"You mean... traps?" Echiko asked.  
"Yes, and everything you know – but nothing lethal. They will also be instructed in non-lethal methods if you're caught, in which case you should immediately surrender to that team. Though if you capture another classmate, then they have to join your side."  
"So everyone will know this is basically a game beforehand," Shigeru confirmed uncertainly.  
"More or less. What I'll actually tell them is that two chuunin instructors are disguised as their enemies to make it seem harder," the teacher explained. "If by the end of tomorrow no team has rescued your prisoner, then the game is over and you are to return to main camp."  
"That seems unlikely, since there is only two of us and a lot of them," Shigeru stated.  
"Remember that you can capture others to strengthen your numbers. But of course, if you don't feel up to it I can use you as the prisoner and find someone else," he said in return.  
Echiko looked to Shigeru, unsure if they could really work together, but the bigger boy was strangely submissive and he said he'd do it.  
"...Who will be the prisoner then?"  
"Whoever you like, only you mustn't tell your captive it's a game until after you reach your camp. Of course you'll fail if you can't manage to retrieve someone, so this may be the hardest part of the test for the both of you." The teacher pulled out a parchment from his pocket and spread it out in front of them. "This is a map of the area in which you can operate. Your camp is here," he pointed to a rocky outcropping in the forest a ways from the clearing that was designated main camp. "You'll be on your own tonight and all of tomorrow, though I'll provide you with spare tents and sleeping bags so that no one can tell your stuff is missing."  
Echiko gazed at the map. His blood was pumping with a strange sense of excitement at this new challenge. He couldn't imagine why he was excited, being stuck with the one person he didn't get along with who had just earlier tried to drown him in the river and accuse him of being a spy.  
"How much time do we have before the game starts?" Shigeru questioned.  
"The rest of the afternoon. You may scout out the route to your camp and set up traps, and when dusk falls you must capture your target. Try to make it seem obvious that someone was kidnapped but don't let anyone see you. Any more questions?"  
The two boys shook their heads, and the teacher handed Echiko the map before he rummaged through his backpack and threw two worn-looking outfits with fake headbands and masks in their direction. "I'll see the two of you at the end of the game, then. The spare tents and bags are over in that corner."  
**Well this will be interesting.** Aizen spoke up.  
_You're not even going to be here, Aizen._  
**Why not?**  
_Because you've already been out for too long_, Echiko responded mentally. _Any longer and neither of us will have any strength to complete the mission._  
**You're such a downer. And all this special mission talk was getting me excited after a long and boring journey.**  
_Sorry, Aizen. I may need you later, so please get some rest._  
He heard the dragon grumble, but he flapped his wings compliantly and finally disappeared into a puff of smoke before Echiko followed Shigeru out of the teacher's tent, only to stop short when Shigeru abruptly turned around. "We'll meet up outside camp," he said seriously. His whole demeanor seemed to have changed, but he didn't look Echiko in the eye as he walked off, leaving him to ponder what was going through the taller boy's mind. Echiko sighed and picked up his feet to discreetly gather his things.  
Once outside the camp, he backed up against a tree trunk and pulled out the map again, glancing in the direction where the 'enemy' camp was supposed to be. There were various traps he had in mind that could be set up along the route, though they'd have to make sure to mark a detour for themselves so they don't end up triggering them accidentally. He began to wonder how good Shigeru was at this. Thinking back to their conversation in the teacher's tent, he was surprised how quickly the boy caught on to the teacher's plan, grasping the game and already thinking ahead as soon as they were dismissed. It was possible... no, it is possible that Shigeru could become an excellent squad leader in the future. Even though he was a stubborn bully and wasn't particularly smart, if he could overcome his superior and arrogant attitude, and valued others...  
"This is no time to be spacing out, short-stack."  
Echiko blinked, noticing Shigeru sitting on a branch above his head, bags hanging from his shoulder. "I figure you've got some sort of idea in that large head of yours for the trap layout, so I'll leave that to you. I'll handle seizing the hostage tonight."  
"Um... okay," Echiko replied, a bit caught off guard. He was actually trusting him to do something?  
Shigeru landed beside him. "Who will we choose as our target..."  
Echiko hadn't thought that far. He didn't really know anyone well yet, so he couldn't say who'd be the easiest to catch off guard, though he did want to avoid taking a girl hostage if possible. That would just be awkward.  
"Heh," Shigeru chuckled suddenly. "Might as well take him out of the picture, though it'll be difficult to sneak up on him with that stupid nose of his."  
"...Who?"  
There was a devilish look in his eyes. "Kenji. Next to myself, he's probably the strongest and most agile in our class." He saw Echiko's blank expression and added, "Don't you know who I'm talking about? He sits next to you at the Academy, stupid."  
Echiko's eyes lit up. The boy who saved him... that was Kenji? Of course... Echiko remembered the teacher say his name in class a few times, and his feral eyes and fang marks on his skin were hard to miss, so it was strange he always forgot his name. "Right..." Just from his near death encounter today, he could tell that boy was on a whole other level than himself in terms of speed and strength. Even compared to Shigeru. "You want... to capture him?"  
"Kill two birds with one stone," Shigeru responded. "With him out of the way it will be that much easier to capture others and avoid being tracked. Lemme see the map."  
Echiko gave it to him, glancing at the descent of the sun. "We have three hours until dusk."  
"Right, then." With his nose still in the map, Shigeru started forward and then stopped again, passing the parchment back to Echiko rather indifferently. "Yeah you can handle the map too."  
Echiko followed behind him, confused, though he said nothing, making sure to avoid tripping over the tree roots with his replacement foot-piece at the brisk pace Shigeru was trotting. He continued to check their direction with the map, using a pencil to mark the route and any prominent landmark along the way. He looked up when Shigeru jumped forward, catching a branch and swinging himself into the trees, jumping from one to the other, and pausing for Echiko to catch up from the ground.  
He felt a touch of envy, watching him, knowing with his left leg he couldn't follow him. Not just yet, anyway. But he tried to shake the thought away and focus on his task.  
They reached the spot on the map and looked around. It was deep in the woods surrounded by boulders that created a sort of hidden nook that you could crawl into, and had enough space to sleep four or so people lengthwise underneath. It was the perfect place to hide.  
Echiko threw his sleeping bag inside and pulled out the spare tent he grabbed. "You know... we could use these."  
Shigeru popped his head out from the nook. "We don't need the tents."  
"No, I mean for traps." Echiko wrapped the canvas around his body, determining the size. "...With enough wire we could snag a whole team at once in this."  
"Whatever you say, short-stack."  
For the next two hours they worked on designing the traps and making them, and Echiko tore a blank page out of a scroll in his pocket and carefully drew a copy of the map, marking each spot where they intended to place their snares so they could split up. Then they dawned their disguises, and Echiko glanced at himself in the reflection of the river a short ways from camp. The foreign headband was tied over his head so his signature blue hair wasn't as visible, and a mask covered the lower half of his face leaving only his eyes exposed. The outfit was loose but comfortable, the pants long enough to hide his left leg and he strapped it so it wouldn't slide up or down as he moved. Shigeru's outfit was basically the same, though he combined it with his own clothes like a fashion statement, and he wore the headband around his neck. His hair at least was normal enough that no one would recognize him with one glance.  
"Alright, let's move." Shigeru hefted his bag full of pre-made traps on his back and took off into the treetops, and Echiko moved to cover the ground. They determined to meet up just beyond the main camp when it was getting dark, which meant they had little over an hour to set up the important traps. "We don't have to set all of them up right away," Echiko had noted while they tested the efficiency of one of the snares. "When we've retrieved Kenji, if you took him back here I could set up the rest as I follow you..."  
"That works," was his reply. Echiko stopped at a tree and unshouldered his bag, tightening the wires of one of the devices and setting it down at the most probable place someone would step, rigging the trees beside it before quickly moving on to the next designated spot. By the time he neared the main camp, the light was almost gone and the shadows of the forest shrouded him in darkness. But he was used to darkness. He crouched unhindered and spied on the campfire blazing in the center of the clearing, the other students laughing obliviously, completely unaware of the new challenge that was about to face them. Echiko smiled. This will be very fun. He was joined by Shigeru in a little while.  
"Kenji's tent is on the other side," he whispered. They sneaked around the tents, passing as silently as they could, and held their position just behind the one Shigeru spoke of, waiting.  
"...Do you know where he is?" Echiko asked quietly.  
"Look, right there," Shigeru pointed to the group around the fire, and Echiko recognized the feral boy pounce over the log he had been sitting on and saunter toward them. Echiko bit his lip nervously, but he concentrated on a leaf next to the tent, knowing someone's gaze could be felt. Instead he watched him in his peripheral vision as the boy knelt in front of his tent with a piece of meat and began whispering as if someone were inside. "Hey, boy, got you something," he was saying. "C'mon-aw, there's a good pup! Good boy!"  
Pup? Echiko eyes caught the boy laugh and fall onto his back with a furry animal in his hands, licking his face and hands, searching for more meat in his pockets. "Sorry, pup. You gotta stay in here now. There we go, good boy." He placed the puppy back inside his tent, and then suddenly he slumped over, revealing Shigeru with a big stick behind him who apparently knocked him out cold.  
Echiko scooted over so Shigeru could drag him into the shadows before someone noticed. "That was... easier than expected."  
"Yeah, if it wasn't for that dog he had distracting him we might not have pulled it off." Shigeru hefted the unconscious boy over his shoulders.  
"... Should we bring the dog too?" Echiko looked back at the tent, not sure if it was such a good idea to leave it there alone.  
"No, knowing Kenji he'd use it to escape or have it howl and draw everyone to our camp. Then it would be game over."  
"Oh."  
Shigeru paused. "Hey, short-stack. We're supposed to make it obvious someone was kidnapped, right? Write a sign in blood that says 'We've got your friend'. That'll throw them, heh."  
Echiko pulled out the scroll he used before and ripped another piece off, slicing his palm with a kunai and using a finger to write Shigeru's message in his own blood. He lifted it up, and the bigger boy nodded approvingly. "Okay, you put that on his tent somewhere and finish the traps. I'll take him back to base," Shigeru said, turning back, and Echiko stabbed his bloody kunai through the paper to the front of Kenji's tent and fled, working his way around in the shadows. He almost wanted to stay and watch the student's reaction, but that probably wasn't the safest idea and he still had several traps left not done. So, reluctantly, he left the warm light of the fire and disappeared into the night.

"You're got to be kidding me!"  
"Nope, you get to be our prisoner 'till the end of tomorrow. What an honor!"  
"Shut up, Shigeru. At least untie me."  
"Can't."  
"...I hate you."  
Echiko walked up to the arguing duo and sat down, glad Shigeru hadn't started a fire or they'd be found in no time. If their fellow classmates were smart, that is.  
"Who's this? Your collaborator?" Kenji narrowed his eyes from his tied up position against the boulder and glared through Echiko, though all any of them could see of each other was just a vague outline in the moonlight. He sniffed. "You smell familiar too. Wait, don't tell me..." He suddenly began to laugh. "The cripple is your teammate? Oh gosh! No wonder you went after me first. You two don't stand a chance in hell!"  
"Now it's your turn to shut up, Kenji," Shigeru whacked him on the head with his stick, but Kenji just growled.  
"Would you stop hitting me?"  
"Hey," Echiko spoke, and they both blinked at him. His hand was outstretched, his fist full of strips of rabbit meat he had cooked while he was out setting traps. He knew a few well placed embers could throw off the direction of any pursuers, and they needed something to eat anyway to keep up their strength. What was it Shigeru said? To kill two birds with one stone?  
Shigeru snatched up half and gobbled it down. "Where'd you get these?"  
"I caught them."  
"Isn't making a fire dangerous?"  
"...Not if you do it right."  
"Hm. Well, you don't have to give any to Sour-face over here. It's not like he needs the energy, he's not going anywhere."  
"As soon as I get out of this I'm going to kill you, Shigeru." Kenji spat.  
Echiko said nothing, only shoving a couple strips into the bound boy's hand and sat back and chewed the rest of his half. "I'm pretty sure they've seen the sign by now."  
"What sign?" Kenji questioned.  
Shigeru and Echiko chewed their food.  
"Gah! What's with you two?" Kenji looked as if he was going to start pulling out his hair.  
"Maybe we should gag him," Shigeru suggested, and Echiko shrugged. But then a thought struck his mind. "Kenji... I didn't know you had a dog."  
"Mind your own business."  
"Duh, he's an Inuzuka. Of course he has a dog." Shigeru laid back and gazed at the stars in the midnight blue sky. "You really know nothing of Konoha, do you, short-stack? I mean, seriously. You can't blame me for thinking you were a spy." He twisted his head. "Hey, you said you came from the mountains, right?... What's it like?"  
"...Cold." Echiko drew in his knees as a cool breeze swept through their sheltered heap of rocks. "It would snow and rain a lot because there were always clouds in the sky."  
"It hardly rains here," Shigeru said. "And summer is so hot you feel like you're going to melt into a puddle if you step outside. Hah, you're so fair-skinned, short-stack, it'll probably kill you." There was a bit of silence before Shigeru added, "Hey... about earlier. I guess I should say I'm sorry."

"Whoa, whoa. Am I hearing this right?" Kenji spoke up. "_The_ Shigeru, apologizing to the cripple boy? Am I going to sprout wings on my back and fly?"  
Shigeru ignored him. "I-I didn't know. About all that. I jumped to conclusions. I even abandoned you at the river though I knew you couldn't swim..."  
"That was you?"  
"...Don't worry about it," Echiko said quietly.  
"Hah," he could hear Kenji punch the boulder behind his head, "You two are one stupid, big comedy! _'I'm sorry', 'don't worry about it'_ – what the heck? Did someone die and go to heaven? Because I sure as hell had to save the cripple from drowning while you ran off like some punk afraid to take responsibility for your own actions!"  
"Would you shut up, Kenji!?" Shigeru roared back. "I'm trying to apologize here!"  
"Apologize my ass!"  
Echiko winced, but he understood fairly well what Kenji was meaning, and what Shigeru was trying to say. "Shigeru... remember what you said, back on the roof when we first met, about the secret war? Is that... personal, for you?"  
The air was still again. "My dad hasn't been back for two months," he answered slowly. "He would send messages from time to time about how he was doing well, and then the messages stopped. About three weeks ago. And they won't tell me anything." Echiko saw his hand ball into a fist on the ground. "I was so frustrated, and... I guess, when I saw you, that you weren't from around here, I wanted some sort of excuse to question you about what was going on. But when you didn't know anything, I was mad. I wanted to believe you were hiding something. I didn't stop to think when I saw your dragon summon today. The words just came out of my mouth."  
"I understand," Echiko responded.  
"...Dragon... summon?" Kenji breathed. "What are you talking about?"  
"Heh, yeah, I didn't you had something like that up your sleeve," Shigeru chuckled lightly. "So, can everyone in your clan summon dragons?"  
"Not everyone," Echiko acknowledged, "Only the males."  
"The girls can't?"  
"The women aren't allowed to sign the Contract." Echiko remembered how Kimi hated that rule, which was one of the reasons she left those years ago. But even Emiko was stronger than himself. Things might have turned out differently if she had been allowed...  
"That's one weird rule," Shigeru yawned before turning over. "Short-stack, you take first watch. Wake me up if anything happens."  
Echiko glanced at his silhouetted form, then back at the stars sparkling brightly over their heads. He probably wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon anyway, not with what all occurred today. But with how everything turned out, he was beginning to understand that good things can come out of difficulties after all. He wasn't even mad at Shigeru. What was this feeling?  
He pressed a hand to his heart, thinking about the miniature scroll he left with Aizen. Whatever is in that scroll must be important for his father to have kept it so close to him, and he knew that the burden now rested with him. He had to become the son and heir that he was expected to be. It was his fate, his path. He needed to stop blaming himself and move forward. That's what he was going to do.  
The waxing moon cast a misty blue light on the forest, and Echiko attuned his mind to his surroundings to wait for the game to begin.


	7. Chapter 7

[[[Author's note: the last chapter is apparently where young me stopped writing. Or rather, young me decided it was the perfect place to put a 1 year time skip before she stopped writing. I felt so betrayed by my younger self that I couldn't just sit by and leave it as it was. Since I am picking up from here, please forgive any inconsistencies with previous chapters and roll with it.]]]

...

According to Shigeru, the next person they should be most wary of was the sour-faced girl called Nara Shioku. Although she didn't have superior tracking abilities like Kenji, she by far outsmarted the rest of the class and would be able to quickly organize the group and strategize a plan. Also, basic traps and misleading evidence most likely won't work on her.  
"We do have the advantage, though," Shigeru smirked. He had been woken up by Echiko only a couple hours after having captured Kenji and the night was still young.  
"Hn? We do?" Echiko asked.  
"Shioku's a Nara," he stated, as if it was obvious, and thrust a finger to the sky. "She won't have much use for her shadow jutsu with the moon covered up like this."  
He was right. Heavy clouds obscured most the night sky, blocking out the twinkling stars and covering most of the partial moon from view. Echiko shivered. Shigeru was beginning to sound quite reliable.  
"And," the disguised boy continued, "we know the abilities of most of our classmates, unlike them, who Sensei said think they are going after chunnin instructors."  
Echiko belatedly realized he hadn't really been paying any attention to the other students in class. Know their abilities? He barely knew their faces. Heat rose to his cheeks. "I - I don't know anyone in class..." He didn't even know much about Shigeru, only the fact that he's physically strong and stubborn. What jutsu did he know? What even was his nature affinity? Did they cover that in class?  
"Figured as much," Shigeru spat. He grabbed a twig and proceeded to squat down, drawing figures in the loose dirt and sand. "Listen 'ere. I'm only going to explain these once, so you better as hell remember it, squirt."  
Echiko gulped.  
"We have a total of 23 kids in our class. Most are unremarkable, they know basic taijustu and bukijutsu (weapon techniques) but not much else. Obviously, the ones from big clans are gonna have techniques you should watch out for." He cast a glance back at Kenji, who at this point in time was well tied and gagged in the corner. "Inuzuka are trackers. Good hearing and sense of smell. Usually work with dogs." He tapped his crude drawing in the ground, which resembled something like a fan a girl would use. "Uchiha would be hard to deal with if we had any who could use their dojutsu. They're basically good at taijutsu and have a strong fire affinity. You're not gonna remember their names, so remember the symbol of their clan. They always wear it out in the open. Idiots."  
He drew another symbol, this one looking like an upside down tent with fire inside. "Hyuga. We only have one in our class, Hitoshi, but he isn't here anyway." Next was a spider. "Aburame are weird. They use insects. I don't know much else about them. Tori and Hotaka are pretty tall and wear long coats." He then drew the kanji for 'food'. "You'd probably recognize Chicho. She's an Akimichi and, well, I don't think I've ever seen a skinny one. They are strong and can increase their size and stuff."  
It was a lot to take in, but Echiko knew he'd need to memorize this information if he was going to stand any chance against the rest of his class. He was surprised Shigeru was being so cooperative, but he decided not to question it. Either way, they needed to work together if they were going to win this thing.  
"So... what affinity are you?" Echiko ventured to ask.  
Shigeru looked at him sideways. "I dunno. Only those from big clans get tested early. The rest of us have to wait until we're genin to learn that stuff."  
Echiko's eyes widened. Wait... _so none of the other students can even use elemental jutsus?_ Why don't they teach it in the Academy? Isn't that what school is for? Echiko stared at his hands. He's been practicing with chakra and learning to use his element ever since he was a baby. He can even produce a small flame without using hand signs. Was it just him who thought it was a little odd for a school that trains children into weapons to not teach them even basics like that?  
Well, it didn't matter right now. Right now they needed to formulate a plan.  
"If... what you said about Shioku is correct, then she'd be hot on our tail already," Echiko thought aloud. He got a solemn nod from Shigeru. "Knowing her, she would have found what direction we're in by now." He added.  
_If I was Shioku, what would I do?..._ Echiko pondered for a moment. "She... most likely, would have split the group into teams. Probably 4 to 5 people each, herself with those who are decent in detection and maneuverability..."  
"So an Aburame, definitely," Shigeru said. "And Uchiha. That girl with the curly white hair is pretty fast too."  
Was he talking about Nya? Well if she was anything like her cousin, then she would be a scary opponent to have. "So at least 4 of them are going to be tough to catch off guard. If they take the most direct path here, following and disarming any traps, they'd reach us within the next few hours."  
"I say we should trap the hell out of this place, that way when they find him we can ambush them from the trees." A competitive smile grew on Shigeru's face.  
"Uh, I guess that could work..." Echiko hadn't thought of anything better. Working with someone against several teams was a whole new world to him.  
"Take a nap, short-stack. I'll wake you before it starts." Shigeru looked away. "Can't have you weak bodied _and_ tired."  
Echiko wasn't going to argue with that. He found a comfortable nook against a boulder and closed his eyes, but his mind kept going. How were they going to ambush Shioku and her team? Should he use his summons? What if they get ambushed by another team while dealing with hers? A lot could happen. But his heart throbbed in his chest making his fingers tingle. He didn't want to lose. The excitement the next few hours might bring blended with his dreams, and before he knew it, he was being shaken awake.

They crouched, hands at the ready hovering over their weapon pouches as they peered over their campsite from the trees above. Echiko kept his breath slow and steady, calming his nerves and remaining as quiet as possible, but he couldn't help but glance at Shigeru who had yet to master the art of quiet breathing. Hopefully their opponents wouldn't be too aware when they stumble upon their captured teammate cleverly dangling over an invisible trap. For extra effect, a low light torch was propped up nearby with an unlit campfire and fresh game making it look like the enemy had just dipped out for a second.  
Now all they had to do was wait. Who would show up first? With all their planning he was hoping it would be Shioku, because they hadn't really made any other plans of attack for any other group. Then he had a thought. What if the class thought the bloody sign was a prank and stayed at camp? Oh but the teacher did say he'd tell them about the game. So that couldn't happen. They could have also decided to wait until morning, knowing Kenji could take care of himself just fine until then. But that would defeat the purpose of the exercise. They had to treat it as if enemy ninja had taken a teammate. So that wouldn't happen either. No, he felt the class would largely follow the most logical route, and Shioku would provide that route with ease. The only question that remained: if they determined the direction of their stolen companion before or after the group hypothetically split up? Because if before, he and Shigeru might find themselves surrounded in no time because all the teams would be in some way headed this direction. And if a skirmish did take place with one team, the others would hear it. Echiko rubbed his temples with an inward sigh. _I should stop thinking about this... I'm spinning in circles..._  
He glanced up at the sky. The heaviest of clouds had long since moved on, but there was enough coverage to still guarantee as little light, and shadow, as possible. A mist was slowing seeping through the underbrush, giving the midnight forest a rather eerie feel. It wasn't cold, either, as there was barely a breeze to dry the beads of sweat forming on Echiko's forehead. Just as he began to think about switching positions, something quick and thin scurried up the trunk below. In a second, it stopped before him, forked tongue checking his scent. It was his summon.  
"They're here."

A few moments later and they heard the footsteps. It sounded like four or five, walking at a brisk pace. They must have gotten used to detecting the traps and could avoid them altogether. The first figure broke into the clearing and immediately stopped, his eyes on the outcropping of rocks and he beckoned for the others to follow. Two, three more, all guys Echiko didn't recognize. Two of them seemed to be wearing the Uchiha fan on the backs of their jackets, but it was hard to make out in this light. The third had on a long trench coat. Maybe the Aburame? The first boy, however, wore a bright vest over a long sleeved shirt. His hair was lighter too. _Maybe Shigeru knows who he is..._  
Finally, a girl stepped out into the clearing. Echiko let out a breath. It was definitely Shioku. She seemed to be talking to the others in a hushed voice, and directed them to search around the rocks. _This is it!_  
One of the Uchiha was the first to see Kenji. "Hey! He's here!" He dashed forward, hand outstretched, only to find himself hanging upside down next to his rescue. Echiko swore he saw Kenji roll his eyes.  
"You idiot! Check for traps! What do you think we've been doing this whole time?" Shioku voiced angrily. She moved to join him, but was stopped by something in the bushes. "Keep your guard up!" She readied a kunai. "We don't know these chunnin's abilities-"  
Echiko and Shigeru moved before she could finish speaking. In a flash, several kunai were tossed in her direction by Shigeru, while Echiko threw a handful of shuriken at the boys trying to rescue Kenji, activating a jutsu with the other hand, turning the few sharp objects into 30. It was only to distract them, as their main goal was to capture Shioku. If they took out one at a time, they'd be forced to join their team.  
Shioku easily blocked Shigeru's kunai, and when she caught sight of him he was preparing hand seals for a jutsu. Instinctively she stepped back. Shigeru smirked. See, Shigeru didn't know any offensive jutsu. But Shioku didn't know that. So as she stepped backwards, her heel clipped a wire that was attached to one of the kunai he had thrown. In one fell swoop, Shioku was lifted into the air completely enshrouded by tent fabric that had been placed strategically below the dirt. Shigeru hopped down from the tree and poked the sharp point of his weapon into the canvas. "Surrender, Shioku," he commanded. A muffled "fuck!" was his reply from within.  
Echiko was dealing with holding the others back during this time. He shot Fire Flare down multiple wires across the clearing, and - with the help of a wide-winged silvery dragon summon - billowed gusts of wind and fire, cornering the other Uchiha and Aburame into the center of the outcropping. The boy in the bright jacket shot down, palms to the earth. _What was he...?_ Suddenly, a thick mud wall appeared between Echiko's fireballs and the opposition. It served to keep them covered until the Uchiha and Kenji were untied.  
"Shigeru!" Echiko panicked a little, glancing over at his teammate who had just released the Nara from her cloth prison. She seemed to be a bit peeved to realize her opponents were her classmates and not respectable chunnin.  
"You with us?" Shigeru asked flatly.  
Her frown deepened. "God. Fine. It's not like I have a choice."  
She quickly equipped herself with another set of kunai and stepped up to the line of burnt grass. She tossed a question at Echiko. "This your idea?"  
"Uh, no?" Puzzled at what she meant, Echiko called his summon back and released the wires just as the mud wall collapsed back into the earth. The now five boys stood in ready positions, seeing their old teammate was now with the enemy. A feral voice barked into the air, "Shigeru! I'm coming for you, fat boy!" Kenji had climbed atop the largest boulder and glared at Echiko's team.  
Shigeru growled. "It's called _muscle_! You shit for brains!" He pounded his chest. "If you're man enough, come down here and fight me!"  
Echiko was beginning to worry. They were making so much noise, if other teams were nearby they'd definitely hear it. They have already lost their advantage but gained a new ally, and were now at a stalemate with both teams not sure where to move.  
"Hey, peg-leg." Shioku tapped her hip impatiently.  
"Huh?" Peg-leg? Really? He bet she never paid attention enough to learn his name. Although he supposed he was guilty of the same.  
"Do you have any summons that reflect light?"  
Echiko paused. Of course. If she wanted to use her trump card, she'd need something that gave enough light to cast shadows she can use. "But wouldn't your teammates who know your abilities be wary of it?"  
She looked at him. "They don't know yours."  
It was true. He had only touched the tip of the iceberg with the types of dragons he could summon. This gave him an idea. "I'll do you one better," he said firmly. "Can you distract them for 20 seconds?"  
"Consider it done."  
Her hands shifted to the small of her back and she pulled out a scroll, instantly casting it into the air as it unraveled. Quick to react, one of the Uchiha formed hand signs for a fireball technique, while the other charged at Shigeru pulling him into a spar in taijutsu. Kenji was still rubbing his rope burns, but he and the boy in the bright jacket had to brace themselves for the onslaught of shuriken and kunai that blasted out of Shioku's scroll. The last boy, the Aburame, ducked under a rock. It seemed he had already used up his strength searching for traps with his insects along the way here, so he was stuck hiding for now.  
Echiko closed his eyes and concentrated on the flow of chakra within his body. Focus. If his attention deviated even a little, he might not summon the dragon he was intending for. And right now he needed a very particular one.  
The ends of his hair quivered with the heat of the Uchiha's fireball as it flew passed him, having been easily avoided by its original target. But he continued to concentrate. When the moment was right, he formed the set of hand seals for summoning, slicing the skin on his palm so a thin stream of blood coated his hand and this time shot his hand into the air. _Poof!_  
It was hard to see, bits of its surroundings reflecting off its shimmering scales. It had a thick torso and short neck, almost looking more akin to a crocodile than a dragon. It expanded its wings and pounced off Echiko's extended hand, straight for the space above Shioku's head. It hovered and began to glow.  
"Shigeru! Toss the tent!" Echiko shouted as best he could.  
The reformed bully cursed under his breath and stomp kicked his opponent in the chest, sending him skidding back several yards. Two seconds and the tent that had been used to capture Shioku was now in the sky, just as the oddly glowing dragon suddenly brightened tremendously. It grew so bright Echiko couldn't even watch it. And then the small beast cocked back its head, opened its mouth, and shot out one after another - a stream of molten rocks like a catapult, launching them at the five boys.  
It was chaos. Although the burning rocks were only the size of a fist, they were as hot as hell and there were dozens of them raining down. The boys tried their best to find or create cover except for Kenji, who took this chance to dart his way through the hailstorm of fire planting a fist straight into Shigeru's gut. As he went down, he grasped Kenji's shirt and pulled him down with him, turning their fist fight into a full on brawl in the dirt.  
The dragon's storm was quick to end and smoke puttered from its entire body, slowly returning to normal, although its scales were now blackened like charcoal. As the dust settled, Echiko squinted to see what had happened. Shioku stood in a wide stance, her hands and fingers holding an activation handsign in the center of her body. A dark line emitting from her own shadow had strung across the playing field, stretching passed where the tent had landed and splitting into four, securely paralyzing the boys who had tried to hide. Their bodies twitched to no avail, and Shioku finally smiled.  
Was it a smile? Echiko shivered. It looked more like a sadistic smirk.  
"Well?" She called out. "I didn't capture your tongues, you simpletons! Out with it!"  
"Gah! We-we surrender!" the boy in the bright jacket whimpered. All his teammates had been captured now, save Kenji.  
Shioku let up her jutsu and wiped her brow. "When you said you 'had one better', that's not exactly what I prepared for," she mused, turning to Echiko. She seemed exhausted. "Without the tent casting a large enough shadow, all we'd have accomplished was mess up the forest. But," she added. "It wasn't a terrible plan."  
Echiko found himself grinning. Was he getting a compliment from the smartest person in class? His dragon waddled over to him and he patted its head with affection. _We did good!_  
"Hey..." a boy with dark hair walked up to them. His short sleeved shirt bore the symbol of the Uchiha. "What are we gonna do about them?" He pointed over to where Kenji had Shigeru in a headlock until Shigeru twisted out of it, putting Kenji into an armlock with his legs - all while yelling profanities at each other.  
"Leave them be." Shioku wore her laziest expression again. "They'll eventually get tired of it."  
"What should we do about the game?" The bright jacket the boy who spoke was wearing appeared even brighter now that he was standing close. What color was it? Yellow? "If we're now part of the enemy team, shouldn't we move to a new location since this area has been compromised?"  
Both Uchiha boys nodded their heads, and the Aburame mumbled quietly, "-most likely saw the hail of fire even if they were miles away..."  
"That ability was pretty cool," bright jacket boy said, looking at Echiko. His eyes sparkled. "Your name was what again?"  
"Eh? Ah... Echiko," he stammered in return. _Why am I suddenly getting nervous?_  
"I'll remember it. The name's Nori," the boy jutted a thumb to his chest then out to the two Uchiha, "and this is Seto and his cousin Uruada. Bug-boy is Hotaka."  
"Oh, uh..." _It's nice to meet you..._ He was about to say it, but got caught in his throat. They've already known each other for months, technically. So it would be weird to say 'meet' you...  
As Echiko was stuck in a loop of social anxiety, Seto and Uruada had moved onto the two boys still at each other, trying to pry them apart, and Nori formed another mud wall between them using his earth jutsu. "It's over, guys, come on!"  
"No! Fuck this bastard!" Shigeru spat.  
"You started it, asshole," Kenji growled.  
Seto scoffed. He was barely containing Shigeru in a lock from behind. "You guys are acting like children. We're on mission, remember? Grow up."  
"...at least leave it for later, it's becoming uncomfortable," Hotaka inserted in a low voice, eyeing the trees. His insects were growing increasingly active, which made the other boys shiver a little.  
"Bah! Fine." Kenji was the first to let go and stomped off in Shioku's direction. "You're not worth it, anyway."  
"Are you done? Let's go then."  
It took a moment for Echiko to gather himself before realizing the others had started walking off ahead of him. Brushing the dust off his shirt, he made one last glance at their now destroyed 'hideout'. All in all, they did pretty well. Things could have gone sour if Shigeru had kept up his arrogant attitude towards him. But he ended up being a decent partner and ally Echiko could count on. _Maybe this was the real reason Sensei put us together..._ The teacher knew their strengths and weaknesses more than anyone. He must have seen the value in Shigeru and used Echiko's circumstances to push him in the right direction. Of course the boy was still a bully, but Echiko understood him much better now. _Not that I'd ever want to be put on the same genin team as him..._

"Echiko, lemme see that map."  
He handed it to Nori, who stuck his tongue out in concentration as he peered at the dots marking the spot where the hideout was and the traps surrounding it. There wasn't much light to see by, as it was still barely past midnight. "Wouldn't it totally throw everyone off if we just went back to the main camp with Kenji? I mean, with everyone out looking for us, they're not going to return to camp until morning at least."  
Shioku yawned. "As much as I'd love to return to camp, what happens if a group does return? By the rules, they'd only have to untie Kenji right then and there to win."  
"But we could at least get a few hours of uninterrupted rest beforehand," Uruada said, yawning as well. "The last time I ever stayed up this late was playing games with Seto."  
"And you ended up sleeping for fourteen hours and skipping school, you dolt," Seto chided. "I was forced to do extra homework because of you."  
"Haha, how is that my fault? You could've slept in too." Uruada received a chop to the head in reply.  
Echiko looked around. They were walking at a casual pace with Shigeru still grumbling in front, leading them away from any traps they had placed earlier that night. Shioku and Hotaka followed him with a lightly tied and gagged Kenji in tow. He seemed to have finally accepted his fate in being the most important piece of the game. The rest of the boys strode in from behind, all not really aware of their surroundings as every yawn sprouted another one.  
Echiko recalled something his father used to tell him. _"Long restless nights are all that awaits a shinobi who is unprepared for his enemy."_  
"What if we did go back to camp..." Echiko ventured. His voice cracked. "Not-not only would we be claiming our opponents home base, but we could defend ourselves easier there than in the trees. We could... we could use Nori's abilities to make a wall around the camp and make openings to throw kunai..." He stopped when he realized everyone was looking at him.  
"I'd feel much safer with four walls around me," Nori agreed after a while.  
"We could set up more traps around the perimeter too," Seto added.  
"Then one or two could keep watch while we sleep!" Uruada got a little excited. Shioku only shrugged, but her steps turned inward and the group was quick to follow. However, they only walked a few yards before Hotaka raised his fist and muttered, "-ere's movement to our left, you were being too loud, now we're spotted..."  
Shioku crouched low and said in a hushed tone, "You don't know that. Let's lay low for a minute."  
The stillness in the air was deafening. The summer wildlife that normally kept the forest alive with sound were nowhere to be heard in mid-winter, save for the occasional hoot of an owl. They could hear, however, an unnatural rustling in the bushes a ways off to their left, and distant low voices though not loud enough for the group to catch a word.  
"Which group do you think it is?" Seto whispered to Shioku.  
"Only Chicho and Tori's teams went this way," she said. "So unless another group doubled back, it's most likely one of them. Or both."  
Echiko quietly summoned a small, slender dragon with a forked tongue - one he first used against Kakashi in the bell test with Obito. This dragon had two skills: to track a scent already known to it, or to sense the chakras of any larger creature nearby. Once found, it could convey the sense mentally to its master.  
Echiko knew he was getting to the end of his chakra supply, but knowing how many enemies lie ahead was important. The slender dragon slithered into the underbrush and out of sight, leaving Echiko in anticipation.  
"What was that? What is it doing?" Nori whispered in awe right behind Echiko. He was a little too close to him for comfort.  
"It will be able to tell me how many there are," Echiko said at length. If it was two teams together, they might be better off sneaking around. It was quick to return to his hand, but as soon as Echiko perceived what it sensed, he squinted in the distance, puzzled.  
"What? What is it?" Now the other boys were getting curious. But Shigeru noticed his confusion. "Is something wrong?" He questioned.  
"Well..." Echiko started to sweat. "It's weird." He pulled his thoughts together, trying to make sense of what he was seeing enough to put it into words. "The others split into groups of 4 or 5 like you guys, right?" They nodded. "There... there are only 3 chakra signatures I can sense, and 2 of them are much bigger than any Academy student..."  
Silence.  
"Much...bigger?" Seto frowned. "Like an adult?"  
Echiko stared at him with wide eyes. "Like an adult."  
Shioku was quick to dismiss the growing elephant in the room. "One has to be Sensei, or possibly a chunnin team helping keep the game in check. I would think Sensei has high level shinobi keeping watch on us as well. There's no way..." she collected herself, "there's absolutely no way it's what we're all thinking."  
"She's right, I mean, we're so close to the wall right outside Konoha," Uruada's voice quavered as he tried to put on a smile. "It couldn't be..."  
"It's not possible, right?" Nori fidgeted uncomfortably. "It's not."  
Kenji was sniffing the air. He had already spat out his gag and freed himself from the rope. "I don't recognize the scent."  
"God, get a grip!" Shigeru suddenly growled. "It's a test! Sensei already said 'two chunnin instructors' would be the bad guys of the game. He told us we were the enemy, but that was to throw us off so it would be harder!"  
The others looked visibly relieved. "Of course, haha."  
"We assumed he meant you two."  
"That makes sense..."  
_But we don't know that for sure..._ Echiko thought. _What if we're wrong?_  
"Either way," Shioku interjected, "we treat it the same as a real mission. So if these ninja aren't with us, then are they our enemy as well?"  
"Do we have to confront them?" Seto pondered. "If they take out the other teams, they're just helping us out."  
"You can't treat it like a game," Kenji glowered. Is he part of the team now? "They'll come after us sooner or later. Right now we have the element of surprise."  
"So we fight," Shigeru determined. The two feral boys seemed to have completely forgotten about their previous disagreements.  
"No- let's at least scout it out more, first," mumbled Hotaka apprehensively. "...I don't like running in blindly..."  
"That makes me wonder," Nori thought aloud. "Who is the third person with them? Did they already take out another team? Are they taking a hostage as well?"  
"If they received the same instructions as these two, then it would make sense," Shioku waved a hand towards Echiko and Shigeru.  
"If we capture their target, I wonder if we'll get extra points?" Uruada was smiling for real now. His earlier sleepiness had washed away.

Echiko's heart thumped uneasily in his chest. Everyone seems bent on thinking this encounter is part of the game. But is it really that hard for an enemy ninja to sneak around in the forest outside Konoha? He thought back to the weird feeling he had on the first day of the trip. Like they were being watched... it's an uncomfortable feeling, and he knew it well. _So if these ninja were watching us, what were they watching for?_ It's not like Academy children would know any information of value an enemy could use, or make for very good bargaining chips. Because they lived in a world where the average life expectancy capped at 35, one child's life was an acceptable sacrifice for the grand scheme of things.  
Echiko's fingers dug further into his palms. _No, you can't think like that. We're right outside of Konoha. This is a game. Nothing is going to happen!_  
He was pulled out of his thoughts when Shioku finalized their plan of attack.  
"We listen first. 'Bad guys' are always talking about their plans out loud. They'll most likely do the same, if they think anyone is watching." Her voice was low and steady. "When the time is right, Shigeru and Kenji will go first and distract them. The rest of us will be right on their heels. Our main goal is to capture their hostage and get out, so Seto, Uruada - you're covering us from behind." She took a moment to look at everyone in the eye. "If the chunnin put up a fight we will definitely lose, so IN and OUT. Got it?"  
The excitement of this new challenge spread to everyone but Echiko and Hotaka, and they all nodded enthusiastically.  
Moving as quietly as they could, the group of Academy students slowly made their way closer to the 'enemy' ninja they sensed earlier. They hadn't moved and seemed to be deep in conversation, but it wasn't until Echiko's group was a stone's throw away could he make out what they were saying.  
"-ugh, I really shouldn't have eaten that sweet roll."  
"It was in your pack for months, what did you expect?"  
...Eh?  
"I dunno, it still looked good."  
"You'd eat a rock if it had a sugar glaze."  
"I wouldn't! I'm not that bad."  
"Yes, yes you are."  
"Before this, I hadn't eaten anything sweet for months!"  
"Your definition of sweet is skewed. Just last week I saw you eating dango. You know how much sugar is in those?"  
"What? I thought they were mostly rice and stuff?"  
"Have you ever tried plain rice?"  
"I dunno, probably?"

What was with this conversation?  
There were two young men casually sitting below the trees. It was hard to see much in the darkness, but they both seemed to be wearing long sleeved outfits cuffed at the ankles and wrists with mesh armor. Instead of the usual flak jacket a chunnin or jonin would wear, these wore unmarked and tattered coats. Their hair was covered with a bandana, and one was rubbing his belly with an unpleasant face.  
"How much longer do we have to stay here?" he complained. His companion was squatting on his heels, sorting through what looked to be a large backpack. "Just until _he_ meets up with us."  
"Ugh... I hate waiting for a damn brat! We have a hostage already, why don't we just leave?" He gestured to a large burlap sack leaning against a tree. The smallest chakra Echiko sensed was definitely in there.  
"Just 'cause we got one doesn't mean we got the _right_ one." The other retorted. "Our spy on the inside will definitely know which of these babies is the most valuable."

The tension in Echiko's team was paralyzing. Was this scripted dialogue of a Konoha chunnin in disguise - or was it real? Echiko glanced at Shigeru. He could see the veins in his forehead popping out even through the darkness and he looked about ready to pounce right in. _Don't do it, Shigeru!_ Echiko panicked.  
A new figure suddenly stumbled into view. He was much shorter than the two unknown shinobi and wore a basic t-shirt and slacks. Echiko barely recognized him. _He's an Academy student..._  
The boy seemed out of breath. "Where...why...why didn't you guys meet up with me first?" He wheezed. "I thought we were doing this later."  
"We were getting bored," the one rubbing his belly answered with a snarl. "Plus, it wasn't hard to snatch a Hyuga after all. She barely put up a fight."  
The boy looked exasperated. "You _idiot_. If you had met up with me first, I'd of told you the Hyuga didn't come on this trip!"  
"What?" Both men shot up. "Are you sure? This one definitely looked like a Hyuga - she had the eyes!"  
"And what did the eyes look like?" he prodded.  
"Well, they were - they were really clear. Kinda purple."  
"Yeah and her hair was super white! She has to be from a clan like that!"

_They're talking about Nya! She's their hostage!_

"She's not," the boy rubbed his face. His eyes were cold. "God, whatever. It's fine. Take her and get out of here before you're noticed. There's plenty of chunnin in these woods watching the students right now, and I don't want to get caught talking to the likes of _you_."  
"Shut it, brat," one of the men spat. "Don't think you're better than us 'cause you're on the inside. That arrogance will get you killed, _little spy!_ And when we get back to Iwa we'll tell 'em exactly how _helpful_ you really were."  
That was the final strand before Shigeru lost it.  
He hated spies. He hated enemy ninja. And he hated anyone who would dare make light of his Village and his classmates. Echiko knew this, and perhaps he felt relieved when the large boy shot forward without any warning. Echiko himself was paralyzed by his own powerlessness. He could never be the one to intervene first - there's no way he'd stand a chance, no matter how much he wanted to - his body wouldn't move. So he looked up to someone like Shigeru who didn't dwell on the gap between him and one who was stronger. He flew in, a sharp punch aimed at the enemy's face.  
_Smack!_  
The unknown ninja shifted, narrowly avoiding the brunt of the punch, but still getting grazed enough to reel back, hand to his nose that started to bleed profusely. "You fucker!"  
Kenji was quick on his heels, dealing a heavy roundhouse kick to the side of the other ninja's stomach, and he immediately threw up. "Aw crap! What a waste of a sweet roll!" The enemy didn't have time to wipe the bile from his mouth, as Kenji connected a heel to his jaw with a seamless spinning kick. The enemy's head cracked against the ground.  
"Get up, Osubachi!" the other called out. He guarded against a series of punches from Shigeru. "They're just kids!"  
"Ugh, they don't hit like kids," Osubachi whined as he jumped back up, spitting out a tooth and eying Kenji with a devilish grin. "Hey Ichiru, can I kill him?"  
"Do what you like, but we need to get out of here fast," his companion replied. As Shigeru drew his fist back for another punch, the one called Ichiru followed it in with an uppercut to Shigeru's chin, launching the boy off his feet and into a tree.  
The others of Echiko's team did not stand idle. Uchihas Seto and Uruada pelted the enemy with kunai. Nori and Notaka cornered the Academy spy, and Shioku skirted the action to reach the captured Nya who was struggling to get out of the sack.  
Echiko nervously waited for an opportunity. How should he support his allies? If he tried for another summon he'd exhaust the last of his chakra. _Think, Echiko!_ He watched the movements of the Iwa shinobi, gauging their strengths. The one called Osubachi seemed like a glass cannon. He conjured explosive mud balls and tossed them in all directions, not caring about his surroundings or in how much damage he took himself from a few well aimed kunai and kicks. The other man, Ichiru was it? He used his head, always waiting to counter or block any attack. He had yet to use any jutsu other than creating earthen armor for defense.  
Echiko guessed he was probably the stronger of the two. And using jutsu wildly like Osubachi was a bad idea if you didn't want more Konoha shinobi to show up anytime soon. What was Ichiru planning? Echiko couldn't let him move first. He thought back to the books he read about Iwagakure when he was a child. If he remembered correctly, earth techniques were weak to... lightning? How could they create lightning? He woefully wished Academy students were allowed to carry element-infused scrolls and explosive tags. Without those, he'd need to somehow create it naturally, and the only people here with any knowledge of their chakra elements were the Uchiha and... wait. Echiko's heart steadied. He thought of a wild idea. It might not work, but... it can at least get the attention of allies nearby. And that's all they needed.

Shigeru huffed and hung back, trying to catch his breath. The Iwa ninja he singled out as his opponent had barely moved, countering and blocking every punch Shigeru made since breaking his nose in the first round. Also he layered on a thick armor of earth that protected him from any kunai thrown by Seto and Uruada, so only Shigeru was taking damage. But Shigeru's stance didn't waiver and he prepared himself to deal another onslaught of punches when suddenly - a storm of shuriken rained down from three sides on the Iwa ninja with terrible aim. Or was it?  
The blunted shuriken bounced off the smooth bark of the trees and swung around the enemy, stringing dozens of wires with them, enough to bind the Iwa shinobi to the back of one tree even if just for a moment. Seto and Uruada popped out from the bushes, followed by Echiko, who all quickly formed a couple hand signs simultaneously and jutted their chins to the sky. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" the two Uchiha boys shouted. They had filled their mouths with oil from their pouches with Echiko's direction, and bellowed out two massive balls of fire into the clouds above. Echiko as well, although he did not know the Great Fireball technique, shot several smaller fire bullets with them and they all collided in the air - forming angry storm clouds immediately above their heads.  
"What the fuck is that...?" The Iwa shinobi fighting Kenji lowered his guard for a second, distracted by the odd actions of the Uchiha kids. He regretted it, though, as a moment later got the wind knocked out of him from another well placed kick by Kenji.  
All Echiko saw was a bright flash. But they all felt the electricity in the atmosphere, raising the ends of their hair, and the thunderous BOOM that shook them off their feet. Smoke rose from the tallest tree that conducted most of the charge straight to the ground, and unfortunately for the enemy, straight through the shuriken and wires wrapped around him and the tree. He had tried to thicken his earthen armor, but the electricity went right through it as well. By the time the dust cleared, everyone could tell he was badly burned and most likely unconscious.  
"Shit! That was so cool!" Uruada couldn't help but cheer. "I've never made a fireball that big before!"  
The other Iwa shinobi cursed under his breath when he saw what happened to his companion. He looked incredibly angry. "Who the fuck shoots fireballs into the air for a little bit of lightning? You little fuckers are gonna pay. I will kill you all right here and now-" He had his hands on the ground, ready to produce a deadly technique, but was quickly cut short by a snake-like shadow climbing up his body and around his throat. Shioku had not missed the opportunity the bright lightning gave her. Nya was there behind her, unbound and kunai in hand just in case. Echiko had to stifle a laugh as he noticed her fluffy white hair floated up on its own with the amount of static in the air.  
The battle wasn't over yet, though. Shioku couldn't hold the Iwa ninja for long, especially since this enemy was stronger than her. He was already struggling hard against it, and he could see the beads of sweat on the Nara's brow.  
The problem was, just tying him up wasn't going to do anything. Plenty of ninja could activate jutsu without the use of both hands, so even if they tied up every limb he was still a dangerous opponent-  
As Echiko was musing over this, Kenji was a man of action, and saw the opportunity to land several punches and kicks to the man's exposed face. Yeah, that would do it. Echiko wasn't sure the man would have any teeth left after this was over... He looked away from the carnage and glanced at Nori.

Nori and Hotaka had confronted the classmate who became a spy, but the battles around them unraveled so fast they were still just standing there by the time the lightning dissipated. Now surrounded by his former classmates with nowhere to turn and no one to help, the spy's face was stoically grim.  
"Who are you?" Nori shouted. "I thought you were my friend, Noboru!"  
The boy looked him in the eye. "Don't get too cocky. They were only weak genin. You will all soon perish to Iwa's might and forever be in our shadow! The crushing of Konoha has only just begun!" He began to foam at the mouth and his eyes rolled back, falling to the floor - dead.  
Nori's eyes were wide with horror. "He... he..." The words wouldn't come out.  
Hotaka bowed his head. "He committed suicide... to not be captured..."

The air was heavy. The kids didn't know what to do. It was finally beginning to settle with them the fact they all just fought real live enemies and barely avoided getting seriously injured. Their opponents were only genin? Echiko gulped. They were incredibly lucky then, because anyone slightly stronger would have ended their lives in a heartbeat. It was a disheartening moment. Echiko started to wonder about the other students. If any of them encountered enemies as well...  
It wasn't a full minute before a tall figure in a boar mask appeared. He scanned the group of children quietly before nodding towards the body of the spy. "You have all done a great service for Konoha. You should be proud."  
Nya stammered to ask him, "What-what about the other students? I-I was with a group but we were ambushed-" Tears formed in her eyes as she remembered what happened to her.  
The masked figure moved to place what looked like thick handcuffs on the two Iwa shinobi before addressing her question. "I was only given information that the perimeter had been breached. Several teams were dispatched to find and protect you, but I am not aware of the condition any student might previously be in. I am sorry I didn't make it in time to help you."  
She nodded slowly, hiding her face in her sleeve.  
"Your teacher set up a relief center at the main campsite. Panda and Mouse will escort you," he gestured to his right, where two other masked ninjas were now standing. The boar masked man then grasped the collars of the two unconscious enemies and disappeared soundlessly. _That's the Body Flicker Technique, isn't it?_ Echiko thought to himself.  
"Come now," Mouse ushered softly in a feminine voice. Panda had hoisted the body of Noboru over his shoulder and followed behind as Echiko's group was guided back to the main campground.  
The events of the game earlier that night now felt like a distant memory, and Echiko couldn't shake the declaration Noboru gave before he died.

_The Crushing of Konoha has only just begun, huh?_


	8. Chapter 8

"How do you feel?"

"...okay."  
Echiko stared at his knees. He was sitting on an exam table in the middle of a small room. The walls were white and bare, making him a little uncomfortable. In front of him was a rather stout man in a lab coat, holding a clipboard as he took notes.  
"You appear to be in good health," the man said. "No injuries save for some minor scrapes. However you should be aware you were dangerously close to depleting all of your chakra. I understand there were circumstances, but chakra exhaustion is no joke. You could seriously hurt yourself." The man looked up from his notes with a sympathetic expression, but he quickly smiled. "In any event, it looks as though your leg has healed up quite nicely. Does it still cause you pain?"  
"...sometimes," Echiko responded. He looked passed his knee, where all that was left of his leg was a stump wrapped in clean bandages. Attached to it was a somewhat new but still basic metal contraption that served as his 'fake' left foot. He sighed, recalling a conversation he had about it with his brother-in-law, Daisuke. _"'Chakra-conducting metal?' his eyes smiled. 'Of course, when you've become a full-fledged shinobi I'll have one made as a graduation present!'"_ That meant two years! If he graduated from the Academy with everyone from his class in two years, he'd become a genin and therefore a full-fledged shinobi. But that is such a long time to wait!  
As he was feeling sorry for himself, another man ducked into the room. This one was intimidatingly tall and wore a long, black overcoat over a black jonin uniform. His face was rather young save for the heavy bags underneath his eyes.  
"Ah, Echiko-kun, this here is Yamanaka-san. He will take over the exam from here," the stout doctor introduced with another smile. "Don't worry, he's only going to ask you some questions. Please answer as honestly as you can." He waved to a chair on the left and slipped out, leaving Echiko alone with the stranger who took the seat without complaint. His blue-green eyes studied Echiko for a moment.  
"Did you sleep well?" He asked calmly.  
"Um... I guess..." Echiko felt a bead of sweat trace his cheek. He didn't have a reason to be nervous, but this man had a naturally strong aura that only made the room feel that much more claustrophobic.  
"No bad dreams, or waking at odd hours?"  
"I don't... I don't think so."  
The Yamanaka nodded, long blond hair draping the back of his coat. "You're not a stranger to such traumatic experiences, am I right? Your mental strength far exceeds that of your peers." He leaned forward. "My name is Inoichi. You don't have to be afraid of me, I'm here to help you understand and overcome the events that transpired yesterday." There was a gentle look in his eyes. "Firstly, can you tell me what happened from your point of view?"  
There was a pause before Echiko could reply. "We...were playing a game. Shigeru and I... we were supposed to be the bad guys. We had captured Kenji after sundown. Around-midnight?- Shioku found our hideout with her team to rescue him. But-but we got her, and then captured her team, so they joined us. We-we then headed back to camp, but-" Echiko swallowed his words. It hurt to remember. "We thought they were part of the game, at first... chunnin disguised as enemies, like we were." He pointed to his clothes, belatedly realizing he was no longer wearing the disguise. "Um. We fought. Because they had a hostage, and-and were talking with a spy..." His voice trailed off, and he couldn't finish his train of thought.  
"You fought them, and you won," Inoichi concluded.  
"We...won..." It didn't feel like they won.  
"Your teamwork and quick thinking was exemplary," the jonin commended. "All of you should be proud - you saved a classmate from a horrible fate. You even caught two infiltrators and uncovered a spy. But you look as though you're unhappy about it."  
Echiko shivered. "I'm not...unhappy... it's just-"  
Inoichi waited for him to continue.  
"If... if they weren't genin, we would've-we would've..."  
"You would have died."  
Hearing the words in person solidified Echiko's fear in his heart. "We would have!" He looked to the jonin, hands trembling.  
Yamanaka Inoichi sat back in his chair, a solemn expression on his face. "It's true. If you had run away, no one would blame you. As it was, we caught several unknown shinobi who skirmished with the few chunnin already there at the time. Our primary goal was finding and collecting all the students and getting them to safety as quickly as possible, but we underestimated how many of them there were and took too long in getting to you. I am truly sorry. The lightning storm you created did help greatly in locating you, though, so you should know your efforts weren't in vain."  
"No one... got seriously hurt, did they?"  
He hesitated, as if he didn't want to answer that question. "Your companions received mostly minor fractures and bruising," Inoichi confirmed slowly. "The two boys, Kenji and Shigeru, had the worst of it - broken arm and fractured fingers for Shigeru, and some internal bleeding for Kenji. The girl called Nya's right shoulder was dislocated, but that's easily mended. Her team," he added, "had been gassed, so they're getting tested for any poisoning or after-effects. It was most likely a simple sleeping grenade that knocked them out. The rest of the students miraculously avoided any contact with the enemy, so it seemed they had just the one agenda."  
Echiko let out a sigh of relief. _At least... there were no other casualties... _"They mentioned a... a Hyuga?"  
Inoichi tilted his head. "Yes, well, other countries have always envied the Kekkei Genkai of Konohagakure. This kind of kidnapping happens more often than you think. However, if they were to get their hands on the dojutsu of the Hyuga, the Byakugan - it could increase their power exponentially. That is why they don't usually leave the walls of Konoha until they are full-fledged shinobi. It is the same with the Uchiha's dojutsu, although it's much more of a late-blooming Kekkei Genkai, so many Uchiha do not even have it."  
He remembered someone had explained this to him before. Echiko nodded in response.  
"Well, I think you'll do just fine," Inoichi said as he stood up. "Just remember that we value your lives as the future of Konoha, so don't go getting into trouble if you can help it. Let me walk you to the waiting room."  
Echiko reluctantly hopped off the table, a clear _chink!_ sounding from the impact of his brace on the floor. He followed the tall jonin outside into a hallway and down a corridor that branched out into several rooms, until they eventually reached a large room lined with chairs. There was a reception desk on one side, and a few people who looked like parents pacing back and forth or sitting uneasily staring at the wall.  
Daisuke was one of them, his leg bouncing up and down in anticipation as he chewed on the end of a pencil. When he caught sight of Echiko he jumped up in a hurry. "Echiko-kun!" he whined, drawing the boy into a one-sided embrace, much to Echiko's discomfort. It was understandable, they hadn't seen each other since before the field trip. Echiko supposed they quarantined the students overnight to prevent the knowledge of a spy being in their midst getting out to the public - it would make a hot topic for the next day's newspaper, for sure.  
Echiko squirmed in his brother-in-law's arms. He didn't mind Daisuke's over-protectiveness, but, it was a little much. Eventually the grown man let go, a tear in his eye. It looked almost comical. "I'm just so glad you're alright. Thank you, Inoichi," he said, reaching up to grasp the tall gentleman's hand. "It's been a minute since we've seen each other, hasn't it?"  
"You haven't changed," the Yamanaka agreed, returning the handshake. "My wife has been asking about when Kimi was due. Quite soon, yes?"  
Daisuke's smile grew wide. "Another month, perhaps less! My boy Echiko-kun will have himself a younger sibling! What do you think of that?" He happily ruffled Echiko's blue hair and then grew serious again. "I understand you've been through a lot just now, Echiko-kun, but I need to go over some things with Inoichi-san here. Would you be alright walking home on your own?" He appeared to be pretty worried.  
Echiko shook his head vigorously. "I'd prefer it, actually..." Echiko was very much a introspective person, and hanging around the socialite Daisuke for too long almost felt as draining as chakra exhaustion. But he couldn't say that to him. Suddenly feeling very grateful, he bowed towards the two jonin before slipping out the front door.

The sun was shining and the sky a hazy blue. It would almost feel like summer if not for the nipping breeze. But it was nice. Echiko took a deep breath, trying to consolidate his thoughts. A lot happened in the span of a day. Or night. Daisuke will probably tell him he won't have to go to school for a while, considering the students mental health and physical injuries. Echiko frowned. He didn't like that. Take a break? He still felt weak and inadequate. His chakra had run out way too quickly. He was almost no help at all when they needed it the most.  
_And Shigeru kept throwing himself at the enemy..._ Echiko realized he admired him. Even Kenji, too. Certainly the boys had their faults, but their strength and willpower... they were commendable.  
_What can I do to become stronger?  
_  
His feet carried him on a path he didn't know. He didn't want to go home just yet... he couldn't face Kimi and her tears. He knew she'd be angry for putting himself in danger like that. _But... what kind of person would I be if I just idly sat by? _  
A voice drew him out of his reverie.  
"Excuse me!"  
In front of him stood a girl a little taller than himself, with lavender hair and warm brown eyes that stared at him earnestly.  
Before Echiko could say anything, she threw herself into a deep bow and cried, "I'm sorry!"  
"Eh? Uh, why are you- what for...?" Echiko could barely say. No one has ever approached him in this manner before.  
"I sat next to Noboru in class." She straightened back up again, her gaze not wavering. "The past few days he was acting strangely, but I didn't do anything about it! I should've mentioned it to Sensei. If I noticed sooner, maybe nobody would have gotten hurt. I'm sorry... I know you were with the group that apprehended him! So please, forgive me!" She bent her head again, purple hair a mess now.  
"Ahh... why are- why are you apologizing to me? I- I didn't get hurt, and I didn't do much either," Echiko stammered, belatedly recognizing the girl from the Academy. He was beginning to question the integrity of his memory cells.  
"Well, I tried to reach Inuzuka Kenji, but they wouldn't let me in the compound," she mourned. "I don't know where Shigeru lives, and Nya already left to stay with her grandparents for a while. I was headed to the Nara compound and I ran into you."  
So, she was going around apologizing to everyone who was involved? Echiko felt a prick to his conscious. _This girl... she feels responsible for the actions of someone she only ever sat next to for a couple months_. Why did it matter so much to her? No one would blame her.  
"Also," she added apprehensively. "Well, the others teased you for being a spy. I didn't agree with them, but I didn't say anything against it either. A real spy was in our midst this whole time and yet you were the only one tormented. So, I'm sorry about that too..."  
Echiko didn't know what to say. He understood the guilt she felt very well, though. _She was there when they threw a stone at me, and she didn't do anything to stop it. Would I be doing the same if I just sat back and watched or run away when my teammate was captured? Wouldn't it be like throwing the stone myself?_  
"You-you shouldn't blame yourself," He finally said. He felt a bit hypocritical saying so. She was just like him, carrying a weight of responsibility even though they both had no control over the events that took place. Even now, he still couldn't forgive himself for being unable to protect his twin so many months ago. "If you keep working hard, someday... you'll be able to protect everyone you want."  
She smiled softly. "Thank you... uh, you know, I don't think we've officially met." She tapped a fist to her chest. "I'm Uzuki Yugao! I look forward to learning with you!"  
"Uh, likewise..." Echiko responded.  
"Would you... want to come with me to the Nara compound? I'd feel more courageous if I had someone to back me up," she offered.  
Well, why not? But Echiko shook his head. "I'm sorry. I... I need to start training. If I don't, I'll get left behind."  
"I understand," Yugao replied energetically. "I've been doing the same. I was recently introduced to Gekko Hayate - he's a few years older, but an expert in kenjutsu. So I'm going to do some special training under him when he's not on missions. What about you? Have you found a trainer?"  
Echiko hadn't thought about that. He didn't even know where to start looking.  
"You have summons, right?" Yugao tapped her chin in thought. "That's rather unique. I don't know anyone else who could use summons at our age. Perhaps there's someone with excellent chakra control though that could help you out. The better you control it, the more you can summon, right?"  
"Something like that..." This got Echiko thinking. He could ask Daisuke, but he'd probably ban him from any training for at least until this incident blew over. Echiko didn't want that. _Who else?_ A boy with massive goggles popped into his head. Obito... he did mention wanting to train together, and Echiko had learned a lot just from playing with him and Kakashi once. Didn't Kakashi have excellent chakra control?  
But... Kakashi was a very serious shinobi. Echiko didn't think he'd agree to take any extra time out of his own training to teach him. Obito, however, would jump in excitement. He wasn't sure exactly what he could learn from that boy... but at least he'd be willing to help him.  
With a decision made, Echiko took his leave of Yugao. He would definitely try to remember her in class next time. He swore he wasn't going to be so tunnel-visioned in the future. If he didn't know his classmates, what good would he be when the enemy attacked again?

His legs took him to a familiar training ground a ways out from all the hustle and bustle of the Village.  
_Training ground #32..._  
Even if Team Minato wasn't around, Echiko felt he would do fine practicing on his own for a while. There are things he was taught by his father that he still hasn't been able to use... how long will it take him to learn them? A few years? He needed to make it in a few months.  
Determined, he approached the gate to the training area and stepped inside. The first thing he needed to focus on was stamina. Although he felt a lot healthier than when he originally arrived in Konohagakure, he was still frail and small and it irritated him. Taking in his scenic surroundings, he noticed another beaten path that seemed to curve along the inside of the fence and around the field. Of course a genin team would be forced to do laps!  
After a few stretches, he picked up his feet and started down the well-trodden path. It was pretty straightforward for a while, and Echiko tried to keep his breathing steady and his legs to follow. But then the path began to change.  
It was small at first. A skip through a stream. A rope dangling over a ravine too big to jump across. Barbed wire to crawl under. Are those footprints upside down above him?  
It was all Echiko could do to keep up with the ever changing obstacle course he found himself in. Some things were out of the question. He couldn't even attempt to run in the branches with his fake foot unable to conduct his chakra. So he had to work around it. Eventually, he found himself above a bubbling sludge spanning several yards that seemed to call out to him in incomprehensible gurgles, sending shivers down his spine. He was up in the thick branches of a tree. He could climb easily enough with chakra in his hands and right foot. But how was he going to get to the next branch? If he jumped with the one foot, his replacement foot would just slip on the landing. He had to think of another way.  
He rummaged through his pouch, pulling out wire and a kunai and tying the two together. He attempted to swing the kunai across the pit around another overhanging bough, but he didn't put enough force into it, and it dropped into the sludge.  
He tried a few more times, using new kunai as the sludge seemed to swallow anything that dropped into it. He was actually getting a little nervous about it.  
Finally, on his fourth try, the kunai wrapped around the branch and he tugged it for tightness. Yes! He wrapped his end around the branch he was standing on, as the trunk itself was too massive to fully reach around, and grabbed a short metal baton he had attached to his belt. It wasn't chakra conducting either, but it would slide better on the wire than anything else he had on him.  
"Here we go!" He gulped. There was no turning back!  
It was like a zipline. He gained speed rather quickly, zooming over the pit of unknown substance. In no time at all the other branch was approaching. Wait... how he was going to slow himself down?! _Wait! I'm not ready!_  
_Smack!_  
To say Echiko face planted into the tree branch was an understatement. As it was, he got the wind knocked out of him, and he lost his grip on the baton. "Shit!" He shut his eyes and felt himself fall feet first into the sludge below. _To go out in such a way..._ A tear slipped down his cheek as he prepared himself for death.  
When nothing happened, he fearfully opened them and glanced around. There he was, sitting only waist-deep in goop, but it had splattered up and covered him entirely. "Ahahh..." Well... at least he wasn't going to die. _This is embarrassing... Thank goodness no one was here to see this-_  
"That's a tricky one, I tell ya," someone spoke from behind him, trying not to laugh.  
Ah, geez... Echiko looked over his shoulder, face red as a tomato. "How...how long have you been watching me?"  
The young man swept a hand through his bright yellow hair with a guilty smile. It was Obito's instructor, Namikaze Minato. "Only for a moment, I swear." He offered a hand and helped drag Echiko out of the sludge as it tried desperately to cling to him. "You have no idea how many times my students have failed this course," Minato assured. "I believe Obito still gets drenched just about every day!"  
Echiko tried to shake off some of the mud. "Th-thank you, Minato-sensei..." He glanced up at the dazzling figure who started to make a string of signs with his hands. "Your team... isn't with you?"  
"Ah, they're on mission as usual," the man replied, completing the set and calling a Water Release technique that seemed to completely erase the sludge from Echiko's body. "When Kakashi-kun became a chunnin, I made him the team leader so they could do more tasks on their own." He laughed awkwardly. "I thought I'd finally find some time to spend with my wife, but the Hokage has me running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I can barely catch a break!" With a knowing look, he added, "So, that's why I'm hiding out here. But what brings _you_ here, Echiko-kun?"  
Echiko twiddled his thumbs. "Well... I wanted to train with Obito, but he wasn't here..."  
Minato was nodding. "I see, I see. That boy loves his friends. I think he'd learn a lot training with you."  
"Eh? Ah, well... I don't think I can teach him anything..."  
"Hm? Kakashi told me you fared quite well in his little bell test," the yellow-haired man scratched his chin as he bent to Echiko's level. "Even so far as to work as a team with the hot-tempered Obito, and outsmart Kakashi with your summons. Truly extraordinary... I'd love to see your skills for myself!" His blue eyes began to shine with unbridled curiosity, causing Echiko to fall back a bit.  
"Umm... it's just... I'm not very good... I can't summon more than a few small creatures, and for a very short time... I feel kind of useless, I guess..." Echiko stammered. He felt very small next to this bright person. _How talented is Minato-sensei, to be so young and yet have such a strong aura?_  
Minato placed a hand on Echiko's head. "Certainly, that is a problem. But you're still a child, so you shouldn't worry too much about it. You should enjoy this time in your life as much as you can." He smiled pleasantly. "If you're that determined to improve yourself, however, I might be able to help you... in return for a _small_ favor."  
Eh? Echiko gulped. "Help me?"  
"Yes," he stood up, "didn't Obito-kun tell you? I have a summoning contract as well."  
_He... has a contract like mine?_ This is exactly what he needs! Echiko thought back to Yugao's energetic bows earlier that afternoon and earnestly bent his head towards a surprised Minato. "Please! Teach me, Senseil!"  
"Alright, alright! But," he said, "you know I need to talk to your guardian about it first, right?"  
Echiko's enthusiasm died a little.  
"So why don't you call it a night for now, hm? I know it's been a rough couple of days for you." Minato rubbed his head with a sigh. "I'll let you come here to practice in the meantime, okay? And don't forget you owe me a small favor!"  
"Yes sir!" Echiko was happy. He finally found someone who could help him with the most important part. He did wonder what kind of summons Minato had a contract with, though. What did his history books say again? There were several worlds that interconnected with this one that all held powerful and intelligent beasts, including giant snakes, toads, and even slugs. Many lesser creatures that one could contract with shared worlds with these named monsters, such as hawks, dogs, spiders, monkeys, and fish. Echiko smiled for the first time in a while. It would be so cool to see what Minato-sensei could summon. Truthfully, Echiko didn't know anything about the man other than the fact he was a jonin and was obviously the instructor of Obito and Kakashi's genin team. Would or did he teach summoning to them as well? He'd have to ask them next time.  
Echiko shyly waved goodbye to the jonin and slowly made his way back into the Village and to the house his sister lived in. Now that he had a goal to work on and someone amazing to help him, he felt he might finally get stronger. As he got to the door, a thought paused him.  
_Father would be proud... right?_

...

"It went well enough, I think."  
A short figure stepped into the firelight. Two masked men bearing the characteristics of a boar and panda stood behind him, calm and stoic as they faced a murderous aura radiating from the center of the small room.  
"What do you mean, well enough?! Several children could have died!" Anger flared in his brown eyes, and he pulled at his orange-colored hair in frustration. "Who authorized this?"  
"I did, Daisuke-kun."  
Daisuke held in his breath as he turned to face the elderly man. "...Hiruzen-sama."  
"I understand your frustration, Daisuke-kun," the Hokage continued from his seat, "but you must know the situation we're in right now. This choice had to be made."  
"You could have consulted us," another voiced from the shadows. Yamanaka Inoichi leaned forward from against the wall. "Although I doubt any of the major Clans would have agreed to something as crazy as this."  
"This was Danzo's idea," Daisuke prodded, "wasn't it?"  
"Danzo-sama has only Konoha's future in mind," the short figure interjected with a bow. Using a hand sign, he released his disguise as the child Noboru in a puff of smoke. "We were instructed not to fatally harm any child in the hopes they would continue to grow to become Konohagakure's strongest generation." A tall shinobi stood in his place, revealing an odd seal on his tongue as he spoke.  
"It is true," the Hokage spoke. "And with the Third Shinobi War almost upon us, would you ask me to send my soldiers to battle unprepared? We cannot - I will not - have any shinobi of this Village die due to our negligence in their training. The peace we have known for years has dulled our youth, and I cannot think of a better way to quickly raise them up before it's too late. You understand me, don't you Inoichi? Daisuke? We do not have the privilege of waiting for the enemy to strike first this time."  
There was silence for a while. "So what is your plan?" Daisuke rubbed his eyes.  
"I have consulted with my closest aids and advisors, and now confide in the both of you. We will graduate all current Academy students as soon as possible and create specialized genin teams with specific jonin trainers in mind. This is to take effect immediately, and I expect full cooperation from the Intelligence and Investigation Divisions, alright?" The Hokage's stern expression gave way a little. "I believe in our youth. They have the will of the First, and the fire of the Second. They will certainly overcome all hardships and carry us to victory. Please believe in them also."  
Daisuke bent his head. "Hokage-sama. Let it be as you say."  
"I hope these youths are ready," Inoichi mumbled under his breath.  
"We will make them ready," Daisuke responded solemnly. A certain blue-haired youth crossed his mind.

Perhaps it is time to tell him...


End file.
